Recent acquisitions a selection 1994 1995 the metropolitan museum of art bulletin v,54 #2 fall 1996 by alfonse K

-uu

'LLY?

iRICJ-?4b

II rm;

II "C

,irl??i-: o

'r.:,

ipi

[

:qylb*

.....,,. ?:.Y;

"BtIPP~"Z"""~P~P4;

-a

:'1,

I?12?.2

Lil

is I:r

sl?I

L 11

'?..

-?? LI;*UU,

i" ???lpl;"--c

s????

Recent Acquis SELECTION:1995-1996

The

Museum Metropolitan

Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

This publicationwas madepossible throughthe generosityof the LilaAchesonWallaceFundfor The MetropolitanMuseumof Art establishedby the cofounderof ReadersDigest. TheMetropolitanMuseumofArt Bulletin Fall I996 Volume LIV, Number 2 (ISSN 0026-I52I) Published quarterly? I996 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Iooo Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. I0028-OI98.

Periodicalspostage paid at New York,N.Y., and Additional Mailing Offices. TheMetropolitan MuseumofArt Bulletinis provided as a benefit to Museum members and is availableby subscription. Subscriptions$25.00 a year. Single copies $8.95. Four weeks' notice requiredfor change of address.POSTMASTER: Send addresschanges to Membership Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Iooo Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. I0028-OI98. Back issues availableon microfilm from University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor,Mich. 48106. Volumes I-xxxvii (I905-I942) availableas clothbound reprintset or as individual yearlyvolumes from Ayer Company PublishersInc., 5o Northwestern Drive #Io, Salem, N.H. 03079, or from the Museum, Box 700, Middle Village, N.Y. II379.

Contents

Contributors 6

Director's Note

Ancient World

Islam

Medieval Europe

Renaissance and Baroque Europe

Europe 1700-I900

North America I700-I900

Twentieth Century

Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Asia

GeneralManagerof Publications:John P. O'Neill. Editor in Chiefof the BULLETIN:Joan Holt. AssociateEditor:Tonia L. Payne. Production:Matthew Pimm. Design:Bruce Campbell Design. Mahrukh Tarapor,Martha Deese, and Sian Wetherill, Coordinators. All photographs,unless otherwise noted, by The Photograph Studio of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photographers:Joseph Coscia Jr., KatherineDahab, Anna-MarieKellen, Oi-Cheong Lee, PatriciaMazza, Caitlin McCaffrey,Bruce Schwarz,Eileen Travell,Karin L. Willis, and Carmel Wilson. Other sources: Robert Miller Gallery,p. 62; Bruce C. Jones for Terence Mclnerney Fine Arts Ltd., p. 83;Ali Elai for TerenceMclnerney Fine Arts Ltd., p. 84. Front and inside front covers:Attr. to Nikolaus Gerhaertvon Leiden, StandingVirginand Child. See page 21.

Contributors

AmericanDecorativeArts North America I7oo-900o: Alice Cooney

Frelinghuysen(ACF),Curator;Amelia Peck(AP),AssociateCurator;Catherine HooverVoorsanger(CHV), Associate Curator. AmericanPaintings and Sculpture North America 1700-1900; H. Barbara

Weinberg(HBW), Curator;ThayerTolles (TT), AssistantCurator. Ancient Near EasternArt AncientWorld:PrudenceO. Harper (POH), Curatorin Charge;JoanAruz (A), AssociateCurator. Arms and Armor North America 1700-9o00:

Stuart W. Pyhrr,

Curatorin Charge. Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Africa,Oceania,and theAmericas: Julie Jones(JJ),Curatorin Charge;Michael Gunn (MG), AssociateCurator;Alisa LaGamma(AL),AssistantCurator;Heidi King (HK), ResearchAssistant. Asian Art Asia:JamesC. Y.Watt (JCYW),Brooke RussellAstorSeniorCurator;Barbara BrennanFord(BBF),Curator;Martin Lerner(ML), Curator;SuzanneG. Valenstein(SGV), ResearchCurator; StevenM. Kossak(SMK),Associate Curator;Wai-fongAnita Siu (WAS), CuratorialAssistant. Costume Institute EuropeI700-9o00: Jennifer A. Loveman

(AL), SeniorResearchAssistant. TwentiethCentury: JenniferA. Loveman (AL).

Drawings and Prints Renaissance and BaroqueEurope:Suzanne Boorsch(SB),AssociateCurator;Carmen Bambach(CB), AssociateCurator; CarolynLogan(CL),AssistantCurator; NadineM. Orenstein(NMO), Assistant

Islamic Art Islam:DanielWalker(DW), Curatorin Charge;MarieLukensSwietochowski (MLS),AssociateCurator;Stefano Carboni(SC),AssistantCurator.

Curator. EuropeI7oo-I900: Colta Ives (CI),

MedievalArt and The Cloisters MedievalEurope:WilliamD. Wixom (WDW), Michel David-WeillChairman; TimothyB. Husband(TBH), Curator.

Curator;PerrinStein (PS),Assistant Curator. EgyptianArt AncientWorld: JamesAllen GA),Associate Curator;MarshaHill (MH), Associate Curator. EuropeanPaintings Renaissance and BaroqueEurope:Keith Christiansen(KC),JayneWrightsman Curator. EuropeI700-I900: Katharine B.

Baetjer(KBB),Curator;GaryTinterow (GT), EngelhardCurator;SusanAlyson Stein (SAS),AssistantCurator. EuropeanSculptureand DecorativeArts Renaissance and BaroqueEurope: James David Draper(DD), HenryR. Kravis Curator;ThomasCampbell(TC), AssistantCurator.Europe700-1g0oo:James David Draper(DD); ClareLe Corbeiller (CLC),Curator;WilliamRieder(WR), CuratorandAdministrator; Danielle Kisluk-Grosheide (DK-G),Associate Curator;JessieMcNab (JMcN),Associate Curator;WolframKoeppe(WK), CuratorialAssistant. Greekand Roman Art AncientWorld:CarlosA. Picon (CAP), Curatorin Charge;JoanR. Mertens (JRM),Curator;ArielHerrmann(AH), SeniorResearchAssociate.

Musical Instruments EuropeI7oo-I0oo: LaurenceLibin (LL), FrederickP.RoseCuratorin Charge. Photographs EuropeI700-1900: Maria Morris

Hambourg(MMH), Curatorin Charge. TwentiethCentury: MariaMorris Hambourg(MMH); DouglasEklund (DE) ResearchAssistant. TwentiethCenturyArt TwentiethCentury: LoweryS. Sims (LSS), Curator;SabineRewald(SR),Associate Curator;LisaM. Messinger(LMM), AssistantCurator;Nan Rosenthal(NR), Consultant;JaneAdlin (A), Research Associate;JaredD. Goss (JDG), Research Assistant.

Director's

Note

In each year'sedition of RecentAcquisitions it is morethan individualacquisitionsthat change;it is also the characterof theirmix, as our new accessionsareinevitablyinfluenced by the vagariesof the marketplace, the limits of our resources,and the inclinationsof our donors.So, as one leafs throughpast and presentissues,one may see patternsrepeated,for instance,in the recurrencethis yearof key donors'names, notablyAnnenbergand Wrightsman-a most happycircumstance-or one may notice shiftsin emphasis,as is the casethis year,with the qualityand quantityof sculpturemakingit the standoutmedium. Most notableamongthe sculpturesare two totallydifferentand strikingpiecesin wood. One is a consummatemasterpiece of the late Middle Ages in Germany:the Virginand Child attributedto Nikolaus Gerhaertvon Leidenthatis featuredon the cover.The otheris a highlyoriginalportraitof a man with an unforgettablephysiognomyand peruke,the bust of a military commander(page3I),which is possibly Austrian,of the late seventeenthcentury. Neitheracquisitionis documented;both purchaseswere madeon the basisof quality aboveall else. The bust, in fact, is of unknownauthorshipand subjectbut also of clearlysuperiorworkmanshipand invention,and so we determinednot to lose the chanceto acquireit; we have,after all, all the time in the world in which to studythe piece and learnits originand

sculptor.The Virginand Child is unquestionablyone of the finestworksof its kind preservedanywhere,of the utmost rarity and importance,and its authorship,while only an attribution,is fairlysecure.Its acquisitionis one of our half dozen greatest purchasesin the field of medievalartin at leastfiftyyears. Two othernotablebut verydifferent werealsoaddedto ourcollections, sculptures both fromthe ancientworldand both in stone. The first,fromEgypt,is a fragment of a splendidlifesizeportraitof a general from the fourth century B.C.; it has a lus-

troussurfaceand most accomplishedand delicatemodelingwithinits powerfulfrontal, hieraticformat.The other,fromPakistan, of the Gandharanstyle, is a monumental, boldlyanddeeplycarved larger-than-life, torsoof a bodhisattvafromthe firstto second centuryA.D. This sculpturehas been installedin the secondof the IrvingGalleries for South and SoutheastAsianart,where, by virtueof its size and strength,it makes a stunningimpression. The ancientworld is also represented by small and preciousworksof art, as we werethe beneficiariesof a splendidgift of Greekand RomanjewelryfromChristosG. Bastis,a longtimebenefactorof the Museum. Among those piecesis the splendidfillet with a Heraklesknot, a Greekworkof the thirdcenturyB.C.that was a starof our exhibition"GreekGold:Jewelryof the ClassicalWorld."I am most touchedthat

Mr. Bastisshouldhavechosento honorme with thesewonderfulobjects. Workson papercontinuedto be acquiredat an increasedpacein the last year,and marveloussheetsby Andrea del Sarto,Rubens,and Fragonard,among others,indicateboth the breadthand the qualityof worksnow availableby the great draftsmenof the past.We havealso begun to strengthenour holdingsin the field of Indianpaintings-which arealso workson paper-with severalimportantacquisitions. I mentionedearlierthatvalueddonors havecontinuedto helpus enhanceourcollections, prominentamong them the who madea partialgift of yet Annenbergs, anothermajorcanvasfromthe Annenberg PromisedBequest:VanGogh'sWomen PickingOlives,paintedin I889in Saint-Remy. Among the manyworksthat bearthe creditline is the superbchanWrightsman delierfromHolme Lacy,of about1720, thatwas acquiredspecificallyto hangin the KirtlingtonParkroomin the newAnnie LaureAitkengalleries, devotedto English decorative arts. All the acquisitionsselectedfor this Bulletinareworthyof mentionhere,of course,as indeedaremanythatappearonly in ourAnnualReport,andto the donorsof theworksorof the fundsthatacquiredthem I expressmy mostprofoundappreciation. Philippede Montebello Director

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

ANCIENT

Necklacewith Pendants Iberianpeninsula(?),5th-4th centuryB.C. Goldwith inlaysof cinnabarand enamel W. I24 in. (31. cm)

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, I995 1995.403.1

Strap with Pendant Bracelets Iberianpeninsula(?),5th-4th centuryB.C. Goldwith inlaysofamber and enamel Diam. (of bracelets)3 in. (7.6 cm) Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, I995 1995.403.2,3

Armlets Iberianpeninsula(?),5th-4th centuryB.C. Gold Diam. (each)3/2 in. (8.9 cm) Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, I995 1995.403.4

WORLD

The luxuryartsof the Phoeniciansareknown largelyfrom objectsfound outside of their Levantinehomeland,in landsto the east,south, and west, where they went as traders,colonists, and craftsmen.This gold jewelryfinds parallels in examplesfrom the westernmostregionof Phoeniciancolonization,the Iberianpeninsula. There is a four-strandnecklacewith pendants in the form of lotuses and rosettes,bull and human heads, and vessels;a strapof five interlinked chains, both ends inserted into a rectangularpendant; a pair of braceletswith double-twistedhoops, the ends coveredby a rectangularbezel; and a pair of armletswith ridged surfaces.Except for the armlets,all of the jewelry appearsto be stylisticallyrelated, exhibitingfine granulationas a backgroundfor designsof spiral-formfiligreesand geometric cloisons inlaid with blue and white enamel, cinnabar,and amber.These are featuresthat gold jewelry may be seen in Phoenician-inspired from the westernMediterranean.Notable is the presenceof Near Eastern-derivedmotifs, such as the lotus and palmette,human head with Egyptianizingspiralcurls,and bull heads. The dating of these objects is based on similaritiesto specific necklacependants from Spain and the use of certainjewelry types in the Near East and Greece.An early example of the wide woven-strapchain, a type known throughout the first millennium B.C., was found in eighth-century-B.c.royal tombs at

Nimrud. Twisted-hoop braceletsfrom Achaemenid Persia,Cyprus, and Greecegenerallypenannularwith animal terminalsare usually assigned to the fifth to fourth century B.C.The armlets,starklysimple in design, appearto be relatedto Europeantraditions, possibly to the Celtic-Iberianculture of the mid- to late first millennium B.C. JA

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

I995

cities of Kalhu (Nimrud) and Nineveh in northernMesopotamia.Attachedto the earring at the saleat Christie'sin Londonin I995 was a callingcardof Mr. and Mrs.Thomas Hope, on which a note statedthat the earring,found by Layardin a tomb at Nineveh, once belonged to a wife of the Assyrianking Sennacherib

I995.66

(704-68I B.C.). Given by Layard to a Captain

On this small gold earringa two-handledvase in the shape of a wineskin is suspendedfrom a loop on which a nude, winged Eros-likefigure is mounted. The figurehas a particularlylarge head and a distinctiveridgedhairstyleusually found on female, ratherthan male, images. The earringis associatedwith the nineteenthcenturyBritisharchaeologistand diplomat Austen Henry Layard,excavatorof the Assyrian

Innesby,the earringpasseddown to Innesby's Mrs. Hope. granddaughter The form of the earringbeliesthe suggested attributionto the seventhcenturyB.C. Comparableearringsfound in the Near East date to the Parthianperiod (2nd-Ist century B.C.). Since Hellenistic and Parthianoccupation levels and tombs existat Nineveh, it is perfectly possiblethat Layard'sworkmenunearthedthis tiny jewel at that site.

Earring Mesopotamia,Parthianperiod, 2nd-Ist centuryB.C. Gold L. I'36 in. (4.6 cm) Purchase, Mrs. Vladimir S. Littauer Gift,

POH

Torsoof a Striding Statue of a General Egyptian,Dynasty3o, reignof NectaneboI (380-362B.C.) Schist H. 274 in. (69.2 cm)

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, Gift of Henry Walters, by exchange, Asher B. Edelman Gift, Judith and Russell Carson Gift, Ernest L. Folk III Bequest, Ludlow Bull Fund, and funds from various donors, 1996 1996.91

With its luxuriouslymodeled flesh and powerful leg thrust and hip torsion perceptible beneath the surfaceplay of the garment, this torso reaffirmsthe bold beauty of the traditional striding kilted figure. The sixth century B.C. saw the lapse of this elegantly simple, assertivelyphysical pose. At the beginning of the fourth century the surge of vitality that

brought about the overthrowof the stifling Persiandomination also initiated a period of artisticrenewal,during which this quintessentially Egyptian pose was revived.The Museum'sstatue epitomizes this moment. The inscription on the back pillar confirms the owner's position at the epicenter of this period's events. It identifies him as "firstgeneralissimoof His Majesty"and speaks of his role in "drivingaway the aliens from the one who is on the throne"and restoring"thevillage[s]that had come to harm done by foreignlands."The text also describes his contributionsin restoringthe temples of Osiris in the Delta and at Abydos, in one of which this statueperhapsstood. Unfortunately,the owner'sname has been lost. Significantdetails include a frilled kilt in the style of the time of Nectanebo I, a rare sculptedforefinger,and an Isis knot incisedon the shoulder. MH/JA

JJ :? dj?r

6' c ?rl =I??i r

r. r.r

-? ?? f.:/ ;'r?? I c '' : r. ic?''' ' C 1

mIIIII

Siren Greekor Etruscan,early5th centuryB.C. Bronze H. 33 in. (7.9 cm) Purchase, David L. Klein Jr. Memorial Foundation Inc. Gift and Rogers Fund, I996 1996.42

The siren stands frontally,long talons splayed on a convex base, the shape of which suggests that the statuetteoriginallysurmountedthe lid of a vessel. The human head of the winged creaturewearsa diadem embellishedwith three flowers.The hair and wings are carefully renderedin the best linear,miniaturistic,late Archaictradition.Originallya horridrapacious monster,the sirenappearshere somewhat transformedinto a rathernoble earlyClassical being, but it is still an uncannilyvigilant and mournful creature,as befits the lethal seasongstressesof Greekmythology.The statuette has traditionallybeen associatedwith a group of stylisticallyrelatedEtruscanexamples,all very Greek in character,but the possibility that the bronzeis South ItalianGreekwork cannot be discounted. CAP

Box of a Pyxis Cycladic(EarlyCycladicI), ca. 3200-2800B.C. Terracotta Diam. (bottom) 4/2 in. (II.4 cm)

Purchase, Claude Claire Grenier Gift, I995 1995.497

The pyxis, a small round box with a lid, existsthroughoutGreekart and undoubtedly owes its survivalto being adaptableto many functions. In Cycladic art the shape is well attested in marblebut is rarerin terracotta. This example shows the characteristicvertical lugs through which a thong or cord would have been passed to secure the lid. The decoration of incised chevronsrecurson other pyxides as well as on the Museum'stwo contemporaryCycladic silverbowls (acc. nos. 46.11.1 and 1972.118.152). JRM

fpw'" ...AN '41%

TwoSphinxes

TwoRoundels

Greek,late 6th centuryB.C. Bronze,silver Bronze:h. i3 in. (3.5cm); silver:h. IX in. (3.2 cm) Gift of Christos G. Bastis, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, I99$ I995.539.4,5

Greek,5th centuryB.C. Silver Diam. (Perseus) I9/6 in. (4 cm); diam. (Bellerophon) Is'6 in. (4.3 cm)

Gift of Christos G. Bastis, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, I995 I995.539.3a,b

The Bastis sphinxes,one in silver and the other in bronze, recalla group of four bronze pins in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, comprisinga pair of elaboratedisk finials and two sphinxesthat are obviously closely related to our sculpturesin both style and function. Our sphinxesare perched on Ionic capitals that originallysurmounted the shafts of pins. Another sphinx pin in the Art Museum, PrincetonUniversity,also may have belonged to this group. The two silverroundels,workedin repousse, arenot associatedwith the pins but may be convenientlyincludedhere as furtherexamples of miniaturesculpturein preciousmetals.Their function remainsto be determined.The guilloche bordersmake them look like tiny votive shields,but they are more likely to have served as decorativeadjunctsto a preciousdisplay object,suchas a rhytonor evena pieceof armor. Both roundelsshow vigorous,mythological battles:Perseusabout to decapitateMedusaon one, and on the other Bellerophon,with his winged steed, Pegasos,behind him, slayingan Amazon. CAP

THE BASTIS GOLD Ring with Intaglio of a Running Youth Greek,late 6th centuryB.C. Goldand carnelian Diam. (hoop)i4 in. (3.2 cm) Gift of Christos G. Bastis, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, I995 1995.539.2

Pair ofEarrings with Pendant Figures

Ring with Intaglio Portrait Head

ofErotes

Greek,3rd-Ist centuryB.C. Goldand carnelian

Greek,3rd centuryB.C. Gold H. (each) I/8 in. (3.6 cm)

Gift of ChristosG. Bastis,in honor of Philippede Montebello,I995

Diam. (carnelian) i8s in. (2.9 cm)

Gift of Christos G. Bastis, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, 1995 I995.539.I

b 995.539.8a,

Bracelet

Fillet with HeraklesKnot Greek,3rd centuryB.C. Gold

Pair of Earringswith EgyptianAtef

L. I6 in. (40.7 cm)

Greek,late 3rd-2nd centuryB.C. stonesand glass Gold with semiprecious

Crowns

Gift of Christos G. Bastis, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, I995.539.7

1995

H. (each) 27/ in. (7.2 cm)

Gift of ChristosG. Bastis,in honor of Philippede Montebello,I995 I995.539.IIa, b

Roman,3rd centuryA.D. Goldand carnelian Diam. 2/2 in. (6.5 cm) Gift of Christos G. Bastis, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, 1995 I995.539.13

A groupof GreekandRomangoldjewelry, hasbeengiven incudingseveralmasterpieces, to theMuseumby ChristosG. Bastisin honor of Philippede Montebello.Severalobjectsin thiscollectionmaybe singledouthere.A carwithanintaglio,in a powerful nelianscaraboid yet refinedlateArchaicstyle,of a nudeyouth runningwitha flowerin onehandanda branchin theotheris swivelsetin its original heavyomega-shaped goldring.The Hellenistic the of period, heyday Greekgoldwork,is by,amongothers,a splendidlyrepresented anda central terminals filletwithlion's-head Heraklesknot,oneof thefinestexamplesof an earlyandwell-knownHellenistictype.The women'sheadsjoiningtheknotto the chains aredelicateminiaturesculptures, and,remarkably,most of the tassel-likependantshanging

fromtheknotarepreserved. Saidto havebeen

foundwithit arethediskearrings, equallyprewithsmallpendantfigcisein workmanship, torches.The figures' uresof Erotescarrying litheanatomyandproportionately largewings showthattheyarerelatively earlyexamplesof withEgyptian theirtype.A pairof earrings Atef(sundiskandfeather)crownsareextravagantbutbeautifully composedlaterHellenistic creations. Theirsemiprecious stonesand mosaicglassarein a notablestateof preservation.A magnificent carnelian intaglio,probatheGreatin divine the head of Alexander bly guise,is setin a thickringof laterHellenistic form.Finally,a goldbraceletwitha hinged in a centralmedallionadornedwitha carnelian toothedsettingis saidto be fromEgypt.Its of boldjewelryin stylereflectstheimportance thecostumeof thelateRomanempire. AH

Statuette of Aphrodite Roman,Ist-2nd centuryA.D. Silver H. 678 in.

(17.5

cm)

Gift of Christos G. Bastis, in honor of Philippe de Montebello,

I995

s4 9-95-539 The goddessgraspsa fold of the mantle that envelops her lower body, not so much to preventthe garmentfrom sliding furtherdown but ratherto emphasizehersensuality.Aphrodite is depicted in the traditionalsemidrapedfashion that became standardiconographyfrom the Hellenistic period onward. The apple that she holds in her right hand is hardlyneeded to identify the figure, but the attributedoes, of course, allude to the beauty of the goddess as well as to the Judgment of Paris.The statuette, which was cast hollow, exemplifiesthe Hellenizing trends in Roman imperialluxury arts of the privatesphere. Relativelyfew Greco-Romansculpturesin precious metals of a scale comparableto this statuette have survived. CAP

Capital with Double-Bodied Sphinx Greek(Tarentine),late4th-early3rdcenturyB.C. Limestone H. 84 in. (21 cm) Purchase, Alexander and Helene Abraham Gift, I996 1996.26

The capital is a variantof the standardCorinthian type and belongs to a classmade at Taras (modernTaranto)in southernItaly.Most such pieces decoratedthe small, ornate funerary buildings that proliferatedat Tarasduring its period of maximum wealth and power in the fourthand earlythirdcenturiesB.C.Carved from the fine-grainedlocal limestone, the capital has two rings of leaves. The lower is of the spiny,finlikefoliagethat was a Tarentine specialty,while the upper is of long, rufflyedged acanthusleaves.Above the leaves a double-bodied sphinx wearing a cylindrical polosheaddressadornsthe frontof the capital. On each side is a largepalmetteflankedby rosettes.The back,which must havebeen set against a wall, is plain. Extensiveportions of the fragilecornerhelices,which in almostall othersuch capitalsarebrokenaway,havesurvived,and theirvirtuosocarvingis extraordinary. Above, the edge of the abacusis decoratedat the frontwith a delicateovolo and at the sides with dentils.The capitalis remarkablefor its fine preservationand largesize. AH

Manuscript of Alziibn Abt Tdib's Munaijait(Confidential Talks) Northern Mosul,ca. 200oo Iraq(Al-Jazira), possibly Blackink,colors,andgoldonpaper;brown morocco-leather binding 678 X 5X8 in. (17.4x 13. cm) LouisE. andTheresaS. SeleyPurchase Fundfor IslamicArt and RogersFund,I995 1I995.324 of sevenfolioscontains Thisshortmanuscript Talksascribedto 'AliibnAbi the Confidential TMlib(d. 66o), cousinandson-in-lawof the who is recognizedby prophetMuhammad, ShiiteMuslimsas the legitimatecaliph.The initialformula,"Inthe nameof God the andthetitleof Merciful,theCompassionate," the workwerecopiedin Easternkuficscript of goldscrolls.Thiscalagainsta background ligraphy,commonlyusedforaboutthree hundredyears,becamelimitedto titlesduring the twelfthcentury.In the Qur'an Munajatrefersto Moses'talkwith God on MountSinai,andin latertimesit cameto mean extemporaneous amongpious prayer" Muslims.Accordingto the introduction, forseventeengen'Ali'stextwastransmitted erationsthrougha chainof authorities. The illuminationgreatlyenhancesthe artisticvalueof the title'sinscriptionandsugwascopiedin northgeststhatthemanuscript

thescript ernIraqabout1200. Furthermore, as combinedfinda nearly andbackground scientificmanuin a celebrated match perfect copyof a BookofAntidotes script,anillustrated datedII99 andprobablyproducedin Mosul. Theyseemto comefromthe sameatelier, andperhapsthe samescribeandilluminator workedon bothtexts.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

Probably by Bichitr Portrait of the Elephant ~Alam-Guman Indian (Mughal),period ofShdhJahan (628-I658), ca. I640

Opaquewatercolorand gold onpaper II8/sxX738

in. (30.2 x 44.1 cm)

Inscribed(in nasta'liq script,in a gold cartouchebetweenelephant'slegs):Portraitof 'Alam-GumdnGajraj[arrogantone of the earth,king of elephants],whosevalueis one lakh [one hundredthousand]rupees Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, I996 I996.98

Elephantswere among the most prizedpossessions of the Muslim rulersof India, both Mughal and Deccani, as well as of the Hindu Rajputs.The animals,symbolsof magnificence and might, were centralto Indian culture. Therefore Emperor Jahangir (r. 60o5-28) was

especiallydelightedwhen the renowned elephant 'Alam-Gumanand seventeen others were capturedfrom the maharanaof Mewar, rulerof one of the most powerful Rajput states, by imperialMughal forcesunder Prince Khurram(laterShahJahan)and presentedto him at the New Year'scelebration,March 21, I614. The next day, accordingto his memoirs,

Jahangirrode out on the backof 'Alam-Guman and scatteredlargesseamong the populace. From the time of Akbar (I556-I605) the Mughals had used portraitureas a type of visual record,but it was during the reign of Shah Jahanthat the formula seen here was fully established.In this tradition the beast is shown in profile nearly filling the picture plane. An inscriptionis placedbetweenits legs, identifyingit and givingits value.Bichitrwas one of the finestportraitpainters-be it of courtiersor of royalanimals-employed by the Mughalrulers. MLS

Pair of Palanquin-Pole Finials Indian (Deccani), ca. I650-80 Gilt copper L. (a)

20/2

in. (52 cm); (b) 22/2 in. (57 cm)

Purchase, Friends of Islamic Art Gifts, I995 99g5.258a,b

These two giant lotus blossomscappedthe ends of the poles of a palanquin,probably made in a courtworkshopand used for important state occasionsin one of the Muslim sultanatesof the Deccan, perhapsGolconda. To appreciatetheir majestyand lushnessproperly,one must imagine the approachof the royal conveyance,poles atop the shouldersof the bearers,with the lotusesprojectingforward. Each giant blossom springsfrom a cylindrical casingpiercedin an openworktrellispattern formed from flattened pods. Most known palanquins,or depictionsof them, have lotus terminals.Although the plant

had special,distinct meaningsin pre-Buddhist times and in Buddhism and Hinduism, in the hands of sixteenth- and seventeenthcentury Mughal and Deccani artists, lotus imageryin generalseems to havebeen used in a decorativeway.In the case of palanquins, however,a specificassociationwith watermay be conjectured.Since lotus gatheringis an activity associatedwith boats, perhapsthe royal palanquinwas conceivedas a royalbarge, floatingon the bearers'shouldersthrougha pond full of blossoms. DW

MEDIEVA

EUROPE

Saint John the Baptist SouthLowlandishor German,ca. 1420-25 Alabaster H.

9'2

in. (24 cm)

The Cloisters Collection, 1995 1995.412

A refined and spirited sculpture, this figure of John the Baptist is a particularlygood exampleof the alabastercarvingsof the first half of the fifteenth century that stylistically relateto the Master of the Rimini, so called becauseof an alabasteraltaronce in that Italiantown and now in Frankfurt.While emanatingfrom the same artisticmilieu, the presentfigure-with its softer,more limpid draperypatterns,gentle sway of its stance, and more lyricalplay of its volumes-is distinctlyearlierin date than the Frankfurtaltar groupand appearsto reflect,albeit indirectly, the influence of Jan van Eyck. This sculpture is thus something of a stylisticbridge between regionalvariantsof the InternationalStyle and alabastersculpturesof the following decadethat reflectthe influenceof Rogiervan derWeyden.The saint'sattribute-a book or a lamb, or both-once held in his right hand, is now missing. The originalcontext of the figure is uncertain,but the ratherflattened appearanceof its properleft side suggeststhat it was placed againstan element in a larger ensemble. TBH

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

oli~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prophetfrom a Throneof Solomon German(LowerRhineland),ca. 1440-60

Colorless paint glass,silverstain,andvitreous 6x 4'4 in. (o.5 x 5.2 cm) The Cloisters Collection, I995 I995.30

AroundI200 the Throne of Solomon,described in I Kings IO:I8-20,

appeared in medieval

imagery.In its broadestterms it was understood to symbolize the power and wisdom of Christ as well as, by extension, the "House of Wisdom," or the Church. In the later Middle Ages the imagewas much elaborated, taking on complex layersof typologicaland dogmatic meanings. By the late fourteenth century the Throne of Solomon typically

consisted of a throne upon a platformat the top of a flight of six stairs.Upon the throne sat the Virgin with Christ on her knees; on each end of the six steps stood a lion, variously representingthe twelve tribes of Israel or the twelve apostles.Personificationsof the Virtues stood in architecturalniches flanking the Virgin and, on eitherside of these-usually in much reducedscale-were the prophetswho foretold the incarnationof Christ.The presentfragment may well have come from such a scheme, and, given the size of our figure, the entireensemblemust have been of impressiveproportions.The uncommonly refined, painterlystyle,which recalls manuscriptillumination,suggestsan originin LowerRhineland. TBH

After Jorg Breu der Alter German (Augsburg), I475/76-1537

The Planet Venusand Her Children German (Augsburg), ca. 152o0-3

Colorlessglass,silverstain, and vitreouspaint Diam. 8 in. (20.4 cm)

The Cloisters Collection, I995 1995.397

Loosely based on LateAntique astrological manuals, a group of fifteenth-centuryillustrated poetic texts detailed the characteristics of the "children"of the seven planets (Saturn, Jupiter,Mars, Venus, Mercury,Sol, and Luna, as they were then thought to be), reflecting the influenceof the planet in whose house they were born. The imageryof our roundel gives Northern Renaissanceexpressionto this popular medievaltheme and, compositionally,is relatedto some of its forerunnersin woodblock books and manuscriptillumination. Here, Venus, in a barouchedrawn by eagleswith Eros poised in front, rides acrossthe sky above those whose "humors,"or temperaments,and even professionsshe influences. Moralistssaw Venus as the personificationof both physical and spirituallove and thus of the metaphysical conflict between body and soul. Here, however, to judge from the bathhousescene, her influence appearsto lie largelyin the sensual realm. While no preparatorydesign for this roundel is known, the influenceof Breu'sdisTBH tinctive style is unmistakable. 20

Attributedto NikolausGerhaertvon Leiden active1460-73, died1473 NorthNetherlandish; Standing Virginand Child Vienna,ca.I470 Boxwood H. I3/4 in. (33.6 cm)

Purchase,The CloistersCollectionand LilaAchesonWallaceGift, 1996 1996.14

Gerhaertwasthe finestandmostinfluential of thefifsculptoractivein thethirdquarter teenthcentury,a pivotalperiodin thedevelopin northern mentof lateGothicsculpture waseitherbornortrainedin Europe.Gerhaert Leiden,as suggestedby his signatureon three of his extantstoneworks.He wasactivein Vienna,andWienerNeustadt,as Strasbourg, wellasotherlocations.Thereareonlyfouror fiveworksin woodthat,althoughundocumented,havebeenseriouslyconsideredas comingfromhis hand.Of these,the present statuetteis especiallynotableforits senseof andelegance.The drama,monumentality, of theformalconceptionandtheeloauthority quenceof theexecutionevidencethegiftof a greatartist.The rhythmandbalanceof the foldsarecounterpoised drapery bythelinear detailsandtexturalcontrasts.Amongthe naturalistic elementsis the delicatemannerin whichtheVirgin'sfingertipspressinto the chubbyfleshof thechild.The statuette,which continuesa longtraditionof devotional works in boxwood,maywellhavebeencommissioned by a memberof theVienneseimperialcourt. The basewitha fictiveDiirermonogramand dateis nineteenthcentury.The child'sarms andthedraperyextendingfromhislefthand alsoprobably datefromthissameperiodof and repair remounting. WDW

R E N A I SSANCE

AND

BAROQUE ~...''

;

.,, !

..4:

TheMerchantand Arithmettic NorthItalian (Ferrara),I4605 Engravingswith gold washon la,idpaper Each 7x 3/8 in. (17.9 x 9.8 cm)

The Elisha Whittelsey Collecltion, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1995

manuscripts and also was one of the first places in Italy where engraving was practiced. The set of fifty images to which these belong is among the incunabula of Italian printmaking and can be linked stylistically to Ferrara. Although the engraver has not been identified,

1995.160.1,2

he may have been allied with the miniaturists. The set is divided into five groups of ten, let-

RenaissanceFerraraunder the ]Este dynasty was the site of a brilliantcourt, enthusiastic c thought, in its sponsorshipof humanistic visual arts, literature,and musicc. The city was known for its productionof laviishilluminated

tered E to A and numbered progressively (E, I through 10, etc.), representing a kind of

cosmographyin ascendinghierarchicalorder. The first group, E, which includes The Merchant,depicts the Conditions of Man; D,

Apollo and the Muses;C, includingArithmetic, the LiberalArts; B, Cosmic Principles;and A, the Firmaments.Becauseof the resemblance in shape and groupingsto playing cards,the serieswas long referredto as tarocchi(tarot cards).The fact that severalsets areknown in contemporaneousbindings suggeststheir use as model books. They clearlywere regardedas precious,and most earlyimpressionslike these gold wash. have some highlighting highlightingin gold SB

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

E U RO P E

Andrea del Sarto Italian (Florentine),I486-1530 Studiesfor a Boy's Head and a Friar's Hand Ca. i5io Red chalkon off-whitelaidpaper 55/ x 8'8 in. (14.3 x 20.5 cm)

Rogers Fund, 1996 I996. 12

Among the earlypioneers of red chalk as a medium, the young Andrea del Sarto used it here with the bravuraof pen and ink, defining luminous effects of tone with freelydrawn, closely spacedparallelhatching and sharp inflectionsof contour.The studieswere preparatoryfor figuresin a frescoportrayingthe healing powersof Saint Filippo Benizzi'srelics:in the painting the child holds what appearsto be a rosary,and the friar(whosehand is seen at the right), a candle.The fresco,dated 1510, formspart of a cycle of five scenesfrom the saint'slife by del Sartoin the atriumof the

convent church of SantissimaAnnunziata, Florence.As relatedby Vasariin the biography (I55oand I568 editions) of his master,Andrea del Sarto,the sacristanof SantissimaAnnunziata commissioned the frescoesfrom the as-yetunestablishedartistfor a pitifully low sum, a story corroboratedin part by documents in the conventarchives.At the time the movementto canonize Benizzi (I233-I285),

a Florentine

mystic and laterprincipalsaint of the orderof the Servites,was especiallystrong, although his canonizationdid not officiallytake place until April 12, I67I. CB

Francesco Mazzola, called II Parmigianino 1540 Italian, b. ParmaIso3-d. Casalmaggiore in Bishop-Saint Prayer Brushwith grayand brownwashes,over blackchalk,originallyon threeglued sheetsof off-whitelaidpaper 284

x i618 in. (7i.8x 40.8 cm)

Van Day Truex Fund, 1995 I995.3o6

This cartoon appearsto be the only extant exampleof monumentalsize in Parmigianino's oeuvre. The artistcalibratedthe three-quarter view in a shallow, "seen-from-below"perspective using a grid of stylus-ruled,vertical parallellines, now faintly visible. Over the black chalk underdrawinghe applied two colors of wash with dazzlingvirtuosity of the brush, surprisinglysimilar to that of his easel paintings and especiallyevident in the rapid, flickeringtreatment of the hands, and then adjustedthe chiaroscurofor legibilityat a great distance. The figuraltype of the bishop-saint recursin compositional drawingsfor projects that can be dated to Parmigianino'sstay in Bologna (1527-I530/3I). In scale and design

this figurecloselyresemblesthe bishop-saintat the left in the Madonna of Saint Margaret (PinacotecaNazionale, Bologna), which the artistfinished in I529/30 for the nuns of the conventchurchof SantaMargherita,Bologna. (Earlysourcesdescribingthe paintingdo not agreeon the saint's identity.) The preparatory drawingfor this panel (Uffizi, Florence)shows the hands of the bishop placed as in our cartoon.The number ofpentimentiin the cartoon suggests the extent of Parmigianino's reworkingof the figureat this advancedstage. CB

Bonifazio Veronese (Bonifazio de'Pitati) Italian (Venetian),I487--553 Madonna and Child with Saints Oil on wood 32'2 X 50 in. (82.6x 127 cm) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin L. Weisl Jr., in memory of Sir John Pope-Hennessy, I995 I995 536

Among the most popular religiouspaintings in sixteenth-centuryVenice were half-length compositions of the Madonna and Child with attendantsaints suitable for decorating domestic interiors.Bonifazio made something of a specialtyof this kind of painting,together with the production of panels for marriage chests (cassone).This appealingexamplewas perhapspainted in the I530s. In style the picture especiallyreflectsthe work of Bonifazio's contemporaryPalmaVecchio, with whom he must have had a close relationshipafterhis move fromVeronato Venice earlyin his career. The saints in this panel can be identified as Elizabethand Zacchariawith the infant John the Baptiston the left, andJosephand Catherine of Alexandriaon the right. KC

Peter Paul Rubens

This drawing after Raphael's fresco (ca. I5II-I2)

Flemish, 1577-640

above the entrance to the Chigi Chapel in Santa Maria della Pace, Rome, is an outstanding example of the type of study Rubens produced after the works of art he encountered in Italy between I6oo and i6o8. The scene representsthe imprisonedprophet'sattempt to forestallthe destructionof Jerusalemby the Babylonians,by dictatingto his scribethe word of God spoken to him and askingBaruchto readit in the "Lord'shouse"(Jeremiah36:4-6). Rubens transformedthe static, planar composition of Raphael'sfresco into a more dynamic and forcefulscene and alteredthe expressionsof the subjectsto contrastBaruch's youthful concentration with Jeremiah's

Jeremiah Dictating the Word of God to Baruch Ca. i606-8 Red chalk, brushand redandpink wash, bodycolor,heightenedwith white, on off-whitelaid paper I318

x ii4X in. (34. x 28.6 cm), shaped at top

Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and Mr. and Mrs. Christopher E Rupp Gift, I995 I995.401

formidablewisdom. The broad strokesof white that highlight and define the contours of the angel'swings are characteristicof Rubens at his boldest, as are the archedparallel hatchings that emphasizethe bulk of the figures'arms, the upturned toes and fingertips, and the delineation of the mouths. The figuretypes also aretypicalof Rubens. Both the massivelydrapedprophet and the lively, slim angel are echoed in altarpieces Rubens painted upon his return to Antwerp in I6o8. CL

I', .

II IF IE I

TwoPutti Tryingto Stop a Monkey Abductinga Child knownas Froma setof tapestries theGiochidi Putti Italian(Rome,Barberinimanufactory), ca.I635, aftera i6th-century designby Giovannida Udine (1487-1561) and

Vincidor Tommaso (act.ca.5Is7-34) Woolandsilk I02 x I04 in. (259 x 264 cm)

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace and Michel David-Weill Gifts, and Gift of Mrs. Robert Armstrong, by exchange, I995 I995.4o.

This tapestryis one of eightthatreproduce, in part, a set of twenty orderedin 1520 by Pope Leo X for the Hall of the Consistoryin the Vatican.The design was conceived as an allegoricalcelebrationof the golden age under the Medicisand underLeoX in particular.The theme and formatof the set may have been conceived by Raphael(both of the putti in this tapestryderivefromlost paintingsby him), but the designs were executed by his pupils. Severalof the preparatorysketches are in the hand of Giovannida Udine, while the cartoons werepaintedin Brusselsby TommasoVincidor, who traveledtherefor that purposein I520. The ground of the originalset was woven in gold thread,which may account for its

disappearance duringthe lateeighteenthcenin a tury, period whichmanyhistorictapestries wereburnedin orderto extracttheprecious metalstheycontained. Theseventeenth-century imitatethe goldeneffectwith reweavings striationsof yellowsilkandwool. TC

-e:

Ferdinand Bol Dutch, 616-i680 Holy Family in an Interior 1643

Etching,drypoint,and engraving,on laid paper;onlystate 78 x 8/2 in. (18.i x 2. 6 cm)

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1995 995.00oo

This dark and subtle etching is one of the artist'smost expressive.Only the muted light that glows through the largewindow on the right gently illuminates the mother and child and picks out the edgesof objectswithin the backgroundshadows.Just distinguishable behind the nursing Virgin is Joseph at the readywith a cloth in his hands. Bol created such delicate tonal effects within a considerably obscured composition by slightly varying the dense etched hatching and enhancing it with drypoint and burin. The seventeenthcentury Dutch household setting revealslittle of the religiousnatureof this scene;the Virgin,

however,wears archaicdress characteristicof biblical figuresin works of this period. Bol, who discreetlysigned and dated the print in one of the ovalwindowpanes,went to Amsterdamto study with Rembrandtvan Rijn about I636. Although he producedthis print shortly afterhe left Rembrandt'sstudio and establishedhimselfas an independentartist,the strikingchiaroscurostill bearsstrongstylistic connectionsto his master'swork. The subject also dependson Rembrandtthematically, notably on his etched and painted domestic scenesfeaturingthe Holy Family. NMO

Jacobvan Ruisdael Dutch, 1628/29-1682

Dune Landscapewith an Oak Tree Ca. 1648-50

Blackchalk,brushandgraywash,on off-white laidpaper 8 4x 7/2 in. (21.2 x I9.2 cm)

in blackchalkat lowerright: Monogrammed (interlaced) JvR FletcherFund,I995 I995.196

Ruisdaelis one of the mostillustriousand versatileDutchlandscape paintersof the seventeenthcentury.He createda newmonumentalconception of landscape bycomposing scenesin whichan individualmotifin nature wassingledout forfocuswithinits larger setting.This rareearlydrawingbeautifully illustrates his innovativeapproach. A majesticoaktree,perchedatopa dune andsilhouettedagainstthe sky,takescenter stage.The footbridgecrossingthe gully, aroundwhicha smallstreamtrickles,andthe thatchedhut nestledin the treesintroducea characteristic humanelement.The mountains

in the background, foreignto Dutchlandenhance the heroic character of this scape, otherwiseintimateviewof nature. In Ruisdael's drawingthe techniqueof wash chalk and to renderspaceandthe using effectsof lightandatmosphere-asdeveloped by landscapepaintersin Haarlemin the secondquarterof theseventeenth centurym-takes on a newrefinement.The degreeof finish andthe presenceof a monogramin thisdune landscapesuggestthatRuisdaelintendedit to be an independentworkof art. CL

Marcantonio Franceschini Italian (Bolognese),1648-1729

The Last Communionof Saint Mary of Egypt Ca. 1690

Oil on copper I6Y4 X 2I3

in. (42.5x 54.3 cm)

Wrightsman Fund, 1996 I996.9

Thisrefined,beautifullypreserved picture showsthe fifth-century courtesan-turnedasceticSaintMaryof Egyptreceivingcommunion fromthe hermitZosimus.Twoputti suspenda humeralveilbelowthe saint,while anotheryoungangelactsasacolyte.One of Franceschini's mostaffectingworks,thepicturehasa pendant,the Ecstasy ofSaintMary Collection, (Molinari-Pradelli Magdalene Bologna). Painted about 1690, the two pictures were acquiredabout 1709 by the senate

of Bolognaas a gift forPopeClementXI to obtainhis favorin organizinga communalart

academy;theyarementionedin G. P. Zanotto's 1739history of the Accademia Clementina. Franceschini'sart representsthe last bloom of the classicaltradition initiated in Bologna by the Carracci.Typical of the tenets of Bologneseclassicismis the emphasison expression and action so that the picturedescribesin an affectiveway the actionportrayed.The focus is on an elevatedvocabularyconsonantwith the subject,but Franceschinihas sweetened this idiom with delicacy of color, softness of modeling, and attention to effects of light. KC

Portrait of a Military Commander

<* 4

V 9. .0

.^w ^S^SffM~~~~~~~~~~Ii

PossiblyAustrian,ca. 1685-95 Redpine (Pinus sylvestris) H. (with socle)3o/8 in. (78.4 cm) Wrightsman Fund, I996 1996.7 The author and the subjectof this stupendous bust remain mysterious.The likeliest clues to eventually identifying both lie in the images on the fanciful paradearmor,although it is genericallyof a sixteenth-centuryNorth Italian type, as if to ensure a traditionalframe of reference worthy of the sitter.The scenes on the breastplateare the Familyof Darius before Alexanderthe Great and the Justice of Trajan. These incidents from ancient victories in the East would have provided a fitting parallelfor a latter-daycampaign;the most applicable would have been the war against the Turks, culminating in the Siege of Vienna in I683. The Habsburgcourtpatronizedvirtuososculptorssuch as MatthiasSteinl (ca. I644-I727), whose extravagantstyleoffersa certain parallel; but Steinl is known for his ivory carvings ratherthan wood sculpture,and even he might have balked at the job of describing the wig with quite such a maniacalrenderingof curls. JDD

EUROPE

1 700-

Alto Shawm earlyi8th century(?) European, Boxwoodand brass L. 294 in. (74.3 cm) Purchase, Clara Mertens Bequest, in memory of Andre Mertens, 1995 I995.565

Although the orchestraloboe evidentlyevolved at the hands of craftsmen-musiciansat the Frenchcourt during the seventeenth century ("oboe"comes from the French hautbois),the transitionfrom loud, wide-bore Renaissance shawms to quieter,narrower-boreBaroque oboes did not occur at a uniform pace across Europe,and shawmsneverbecamecompletely obsolete;they survivein folk usagein Catalonia, for example.Lackof a maker'smarkand of any definablenational characteristicsmakes it impossibleto ascertainthe origin of this neatly made, perhapsunique, double-reedinstrument, which combines featuresof the normal Renaissanceshawm such as thick walls and the shapeof the singlekey,centralturnings,and bell-with the boreprofileand three-section constructionmore typicalof earlyoboes. Stylisticallyit might come fromthe decadesaround I700, althougha laterdate is possibleif provincial manufactureis assumed.One detail not observedelsewhereis the mannerin which the top and centersectionsarejoined, not in a single socket-and-tenonjoint as is usual, but within a separatebarrelthat acceptstenons at both ends.

1900 Attributed to Jan van Mekeren Dutch, b. TielI658-d. Amsterdam1733 Cabinet on Stand Dutch (Amsterdam),ca. 1700-1710 Oak veneeredwith kingwood,tulipwood, rosewood,ebony,olive wood, holly,and other marquetrywoods H. 70o4 in. (78.5 cm) Ruth and Victoria Blumka Fund, 1995 I995.37Ia,b This cabinet is the smallest but most pictorial of seven similar known examples attributed to cabinetmakervan Mekeren. Specializing in the production of luxuriousmarquetryfurnitureforAmsterdampatricians,van Mekeren excelledin the skillfuluse of differentwoods to createa refinedpolychromy.Dutch floralmarquetrymay well have been developedabout I650 by Pierre Gole (ca. I620-I684),

a cabinet-

makerfrom the Netherlandswho workedat the Frenchcourt.This gloriouspiece of furniture,with its largebouquetsof naturalistic flowersechoing contemporarystill-lifepaintings, representsthe culminationof this marquetrytradition. DK-G

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

t~~ ~~

...~~~~~~~~~~.

?? ' '

-'" '1 ' .':','"-~:.TI..'/~"~urr

. . ." ,J-'~-

1,r~

Attributed to James Moore (d. 1726) and John Gumley (d. 1729) English

Chandelier English(London),ca. 1720 Giltgessoon wood;gilt-metal mounts H. 46 in. (ii7 cm) Purchase,Wrightsman Fund, and Mrs. CharlesWrightsman Gift, by exchange, 1995 I995.-4I

This is one of a pair of chandelierssupplied about I720 to James,thirdviscount Scudamore, for the state apartmentsat Holme Lacy, Herefordshire.With a lambrequinedoctagonal stem and gilt-metal mounts in the form of feather-plumedmasks, it is in the "French arabesque"mannerof William III'sarchitect, 34

Daniel Marot,who includeddesignsfor similar chandeliersin his NouveauLivred'Orfevrerie (ca. I700). GeorgeI commissioneda closely relatedpairof chandeliersfor KensingtonPalace fromthe courtcabinetmakers JamesMooreand John Gumley,who specializedin finelycarved, gilt-gessofurniture.Holme Lacylaterdescended to the earl of Chesterfield, who moved much of the contentsin 1910 to Beningbrough wherethe chandelierremained Hall, Yorkshire, until I958.It now hangs,as harmoniouslyas it previouslydid at BeningbroughHall and Holme Lacy,in the Museum'sroomfromKirtlington Park,Oxfordshire. WR

Carle (Charles Andre) Vanloo

in Parisin 1734,was receivedinto the Academie

French, i70o5-765

de Peinture in I735, and achieved immediate

ThePicnic after the Hunt

success as a history and genre painter,becoming professorand directorof the Academie and first painter to the king. In the words of one of his contemporaries,he was "firstpainter of Europe." The largecanvas(Louvre,Paris)for which this is a study was exhibited at the Salon of 1737 and then installed in the dining room of the privateapartmentsof Louis XV at the chateau of Fontainebleau.The king, an avid huntsman, favoredsubjectsof this kind. The

I737 Oil on canvas 23/x

I9/2 in. (59.I X 49.5 cm)

Wrightsman Fund, I995 I995 317

Born in Nice, CarleVanloo belonged to a dynasty of artistsof Dutch descent. From 1728 until 1732 he studied in Rome, and he also worked for two yearsat Turin. He settled

coseleganttheme,elaboratecontemporary tumes,plianthandling,andsoftcoloringare of Vanloo'searlymaturestyle. allcharacteristic The rocococontoursat thetop andbottomof the sketchindicatethe shapethatthe artist intendedforthe full-scaleversion.Whilethe overalldesignwascarriedover,detailssuch as the travelingcoachandthe mountedfigureswithhuntinghornswereomittedfrom thefinishedpicture. KBB

Open Robe and Petticoat English, 17405

Creamsilk moirefaille, handpainted with exoticfloralsin red, blue,yellow,and greenand trimmedwith silk crochetednetting,fly fringe, andpolychrome flowers L. (centerback)572 in. (148.1cm) Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1995 I995.23a, b

This magnificent and essentiallyunaltered dressis a paradigmof mid-eighteenth-century style for formal occasions, worked from an exceptional,uncommon textile. The gown and petticoat was the most prevalentform of women'sdressin eighteenthcenturyEurope.This gown'sfitted and seamed bodice, narrowsleeves, and sack back and the organizationof the extremelyfull skirt over elementsfrom oblong panniersarecharacteristic the I740s, exemplifying a variety of the form

that developed out of negligee wear and in responseto the earlierformalizedmantua. Whereas most eighteenth-centuryhandpaintedpieceswereexecutedout of plain-weave satins or taffetas,this unique example is worked from texturedfaille that, extraordinarily,has also been moireed, or watered, to producea subtle,undulatingombreeffect.Moreover, although floral imagerywas the most widely used source of patterning for dress in the eighteenthcentury,the tendencyin this design toward solidity, flat articulation,and saturatedbut muted coloration contrasts sharplywith the delicate and pastel flower forms found on most contemporarypainted, woven, and printed silks and cottons. The confident abstractrendering,overalldensity, largescale, and subtle palette are elements morecloselyassociatedwith eighteenth-century English embroideries. JAL

IncenseBurner Japanese,ca. 1700 Hard-pasteporcelain H.

4X8

in. (10.5 cm)

The Hans Syz Collection, Gift of Stephan B. Syz and John D. Syz, 1995 1995.268.ii4a,b

Du Paquier Factory Austrian(Vienna),17I8-44

FootedBowl and Cover Austrian(Vienna),ca. i730-35 Hard-pasteporcelain H. 7 in. (I7.8 cm)

The Hans Syz Collection, Gift of Stephan B. Syz and John D. Syz, 1995 b 99y5.268.3o3a,

The gift of the Hans Syz Collection endows the Museumwith nearlythreehundredexamplesof Europeanand Asian ceramics meticulously acquiredby Dr. Syz to chart

the migration of models and patternsfrorn East to West. Documenting a continuous processof influence and adaptation,these pieces providea discriminatingreview of the nuances of stylistic change resultingfrom three centuriesof trade. Among the most telling comparisonsis that of a Japaneseincense burner (koro)arnd its Viennesecounterpart.The Japanesemo)del, finely enameled in a palette of light coral, green, and blue in the kakiemonstyle of 1lateseventeenth-centuryJapaneseporcelain,iss known to have been exportedto Europe, as Augustus the Strong, elector of Saxony, ords acquiredan examplein I723.While no reco areknown to survivefromDu Paquier'sfacitory, it is likelythat the kororeachedVienna, as it had Dresden, throughthe intermediacyof a merchant.In Vienna Du Paquierboldly convertedthe Japaneseform to a Europeanone with new proportions,Baroquemaskfeet, and Europeanpastoralscenes. CLC

Du Paquier Factory Austrian(Vienna),1718-44 Chimera Austrian(Vienna),ca. 1740 Hard-pasteporcelain H. 413/6 in. (12.2 cm)

The Hans Syz Collection, Gift of Stephan B. Syz and John D. Syz, I99$ I9995.268.3I0

In additionto the nucleus of Asian and European comparativeceramics,the Syz Collection includesporcelainsfrom other Continental factories,including significant additions to our holdings of Viennese porcelain of the Du Paquierperiod. Unique in the porcelain repertoire-and unmatchedin inventionand eccentricity-is this model of what has been calleda chimera,but which only passingly resemblesthat mythical beast. Its inspiration is perhapsto be found in a type of medieval lion aquamanilein which the body is in profile but the head is frontal.Here the stylized chiseledmane of the lion has been transformed into a dramaticallyflowing beard,while the compositionaltangleof the tailand the branches of the supportingtree trunk recallthe aquamanile handle, formed from the lion's tail and a lizardlikecreature.This associationis not as unlikely as it may seem, being reinforced by a Viennese porcelainchocolate pot of 1744-49 copied exactlyfrom a twelfthcentury griffin aquamanilenow in the KunsthistorischesMuseum,Vienna,and at the time presumablyin the imperialcollections. CLC

cl,

ii^'^^l!iiJS!S

i?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~v 46 "tC" ~~j~~~if3~ri. i -

Jean-tienne Liotard Swiss, 1702-1789

Portrait ofMarc Liotard-Sarasin, called Liotard de Servette Ca. 1763-70

Redand blackchalkon off-whitelaidpaper 878 x 68 in. (22.5x 16.8 cm)

Purchase, Rogers Fund and David T. Schiff Gift, 1995 I995 402

A peripatetic,eccentric, and self-taught artist, Liotardwas often shunned by the artistic establishmentof the countries he visited, even while court and society figuresflocked to his studio. Unschooledin the artificeof the rococo idiom, Liotardbuilt his reputationon unclutteredverisimilitude.Forhis highborn clientele,he could producelikenessesflattering ratherthan deep, but this was not the case in his portraitsof familymembers.Liotardmust have been fond of his nephewMarc,the subject of this drawing. The expressionis completely without pretense. In such delicately rendereddetails as the full lowerlip, drooping

eyelid,and directgaze,one feels the artistis presentinga sympatheticview into the sitter's soul. MarcLiotard-Sarasin,the son of the artist's older brother,had returnedto Geneva after founding a successfulcommercialbank in London.A three-quarter-view pastelof the same sitter,dated I775, hangs today in the Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva. In the pastel the sitter appearsolder and the pose is reversed, suggesting that the present sheet is not preparatorybut an independent work predating the Geneva portraitby a number of years. PS

Jean-Honore Fragonard French, 1732-1806

A Gathering at Woods' Edge Ca. I770-73

Red chalkon off-whitelaidpaper I434X 93/8 in. (37.5X 49.2 cm) Signed(lowercenter)in redchalk:frago . .. Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, x995 1995. 101

Unlike the majorityof Fragonard'sred-chalk landscapes,made duringa summerat Tivoli in I760, this drawing is a work of the artist's maturity,probablydating to just beforehis second trip to Italy in I773-74. Dense deciduous treesrecallthe forestsaroundParisrather than the Roman Campagna.The unhesitating, even virtuoso, handling suggestsit is an independentwork, likely createdin the studio from the relatedplein-airstudy today in a privatecollectionin Paris.Using the entire sheet, Fragonardexploredthe descriptive potential of red chalk, evoking the variedtextures of the naturalsetting with a wide range of marksand tones.

A stand of maturetrees,burstingwith profuse sunlit foliage,guardsthe shadyentrance to the woods. In a characteristicmanipulation of scale, Fragonardpresentssmall groupings of elegant figures,half lost in shadow,as restrainedechoes of the vigor and fecundity of the overgrownlandscape.The dramatic naturalismassociatedwith the Dutch landscapists,especiallyJacobvan Ruisdael,is here merged with a vision of natureas a welcoming milieu for aristocraticdalliance,a legacyof Watteau'sfetesgalantes.This unexpectedpairing of influences contributesto the protoRomantic qualityof many of Fragonard's outdoorscenesof the I76os and early I770s. PS

TableSnuffbox Russian(probablyregionof VelikijUstyug), ca. 1745-50

Partlypolishedgreenturbansnail (Turbo marmoratus);gilded, matted,punched,and engravedsilver;niello L. 4s8 in. (Io.5 cm)

Purchase, The Lesley and Emma Sheafer Collection, Bequest of Emma A. Sheafer, by exchange, and Rogers Fund, 1995 1995.327

The mounting of exotic shells with precious materialshad a long tradition in Europe. Here a snail shell was cut down to mount the now-exposed naturalopenings in gilded silver, forming two compartmentswith hinged covers. The niello scenes follow the print entitled Naufrage(Shipwreck),by Jacquesde Lajoue (I687-176I),

Johann Wilhelm Oberlender

TransverseFlutes German(Nuremberg),mid-i8th century Ivory,silver,and wood;case,leather-covered wood L. 2412 in. (62.2 cm), 243 in. (62.8 cm);

case:w. i8 s in. (48 cm) Purchase, Clara Mertens Bequest, in memory of Andre Mertens, and The Vincent Astor Foundation Gift, 1996 1996.13.1-3

So few Oberlender flutes survivefor comparison that these ivory examples-the only pair known-preserved in a contemporarycase can reasonablybe attributedeither to Johann Wilhelm Oberlenderthe Elder or to his son of the same name, both renowned woodwind makersin the city that was the centerfor their craft in BaroqueGermany.The particular form of the maker'smark(IWOBERLENDER in a slantedscrolloverthe letterO), clearly stampedon the flutes,has been ascribedto the father;but in any eventthe flutes,numbered respectivelyi and 2 on all sections,certainly date from the mid-eighteenth century.Both possessalternatecentersectionsof different lengthsthat allow playingat variouspitches,as was necessarybeforethe adoptionof uniform pitch standards.The slightlydissimilarendcaps 40

and plain silverkeys on these flutes might have replacedmore elaborateoriginals,possibly of gold, as sometimes furnishedon woodwinds owned by aristocraticamateurs.The only obvious alterationto eitherflute is the enlarged embouchure hole on number I of this pair;otherwisethey areremarkablywell preservedand providerareevidenceforthe interpretation of eighteenth-centuryflute music, much of it composed in the form of duets. LL

published in Paris in I736 (an

example is in the Museum'scollection). The decorationdocumentsthe use of Frenchornamental inventionsin eighteenth-century Russiangoldsmithing. The exuberantwave and shell-like rocailleformationsand the mythological scenery,with a sinking ship and Triton on a hippocampusaccompaniedby a nereid, illustratethe rococo style in referring to the origin of this bizarrelyformedshell in the exotic oceans.Russianniello of such fine qualityis extremelyrare,and the lack of any silvermarksmay indicatean imperialcommission. Only a few comparableexamplesof this importantsnuffbox type are known; one is in the HermitageMuseum, St. Petersburg. WK

Jeanselme Frires French(Paris) Armchair French(Paris),ca. 1840 Rosewood,leather,silk, and serge H. 51/2 in.

(I30.2

cm)

Purchase, Friends of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Gifts and Rogers Fund, I995 I995. 64

This splendid armchairis stamped JEANSELME,a markused betweenI840 and I853by this firm,a leadingchairmanufacturer in nineteenth-centuryParis.Establishedin Jeanselme 1824by Joseph-Pierre-Francois (d. I860) and his brother,Jean-Arnoux (act. I824-40), the company was continued by their descendantsuntil 1930. After acquiring the importantworkshopsof GeorgesAlphonseJacob Desmalter (1799-I870) in I847, the firm also made case furniture. Working in a varietyof styles, Jeanselme receivedofficial state commissions and participated in severalinternationalexhibitions. This chair,with its strong outline, clearly inspiredby architecture,its crisp carving,and its originalpressed-leatherupholstery,epitomizes the Gothic Revivalstyle and is a most welcome additionto the Museum'snineteenthcentury collections. DK-G

tableauxvivantsthat may seem sentimental today,but she also took portraitsso vivid and psychologicallyrich that they aretimeless. Cameronmade more than twenty portraits of her favoriteniece and namesake,Julia Jackson,to whom she gave this unmounted proof print. She never portrayedJulia as a sibyl or a saint but ratheras a naturalembodiment of purity,beauty,and grace. Sparedthe usual props and costumes, the twenty-oneyear-old sitter here seems almost bodiless, an etherealspirit afloat like an untetheredsoul. This poetic image depicts the woman who was the model for the beautiful Mrs. Ramsay in Tothe Lighthouse,Virginia Woolf's great novel of I927. In 1882JuliaJacksonStephen gave birth to Virginia, who grew up to resemble her mother and, in I926, to write the first book on her great-aunt'sphotographs. MMH

Gustave Le Gray French, 1820-1882

Mediterranean with MountAgde 1856-59

Albumensilverprintfrom two glassnegatives I2 2X

i6?s in. (31.8x 40.9 cm)

Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, I996

horizon.The resultingseascapesaremoremagnificentthan true to life, for they often combine cloudsand wavesfromdifferentlocales. Since the artificewent unnoticed,the deft technique producedjust what was wanted-a sumptuous seascapein the grand manner,broadlyseen and refulgentlyglowing.

1996.99. 1

In the middle of the nineteenth century a few Parisianaestheteselected to use the new medium of photographyto satisfy the conditions of art: they wanted to make pictures thatwereinformedby traditionyet transcended conventions and that describedthe real world yet inscribeda personalsensibility.As several of them had studied to be painters, they were naturallypreoccupiedwith nuances of tone andwith the expressiveand sensual qualities of their materials.Le Gray emerged as leader of the group because his largepictorial ambition was perfectlyserved by a virtuoso command of the "cuisine"of chemicals and techniques. His seascapes,especially,stunned the public. Unlike his contemporaries,Le Grayrefused to accept a mottled or blank sky, the result of the emulsion'svariablesensitivity to color. He thereforeused two negatives-one correctly exposed for the sea and the other for the sky-which he artfullycombined along the 42

MMH

Julia Margaret Cameron British, 1815-1879

Julia Jackson I867 Albumensilverprint io3 x 8s8 in. (27.4 x 20.6 cm)

Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1996 I996.99.2

The effusive,eccentricassociateof Carlyle, Herschel,Ruskin,Rossetti,and Tennyson,Julia MargaretCameronearnedthe admirationof her eminent colleagueswhen she took up the Victorian cameraat age fifty.Characteristically in her intense idealism,Cameronsought to portraythe noble emotions, mythological figures,and ancientheroesdearto her heart. She pressedher friendsand familyto pose in

Josiah Wedgwood and Sons English

One of TwoSwan Vases 1876 English(Staffordshire), Lead-and tin-glazedwhite earthenware H. 54 in. (137.2 cm) Gift of Gyora and Judith S. Novak, in honor of David T. Siegel, 1995 r995.288. a-c

Wedgwood's swan vaseswere the most imposing products that the factorymade in the last century. They were availablewith a putto on the cover in place of the swan, and one of these variants,painted with a Classical scene by Emile Lessore(I805-I876),was among Wedgwood'sexhibitsat the ParisExposition Universelleof I878. The models in the Museum, made eight yearsapart,present a rathermore unified and harmoniousensemble:in each instance an egg-shapedvase, rising from a clump of reeds and seemingly supportedby three swans, is closed by a mound supportinga swan preening an outstretched wing. A light marbling of wanderinglines of paireddots in black underliesthe translucent,mottled lead glazes on the vasebodies,a curiousvarianton the mottled glazesWedgwood employedin the eighteenthcentury.Semitranslucentturquoise blue and yellow "majolica"glazes are used on the bases, handles, and covers. The Wedgwood archivesdo not record the designer,but the FrenchsculptorAlbertErnest Carrier-Belleuse(1824-1887)has been suggested. JMcN

Corot Jean-Baptiste-Camille French, I796-I875

View of Lormes Oil on canvas 6%2x 25/8 in. (I6.5 x 54.9 cm)

COROT Stamped(lowerright):VENTE Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Mendelsohn, I980 1980.203.4

During Corot's lifetime his oil sketches from naturewere highly prized.Although every Frenchpainterwho studied in Rome learned to make out-of-doors sketches, few continued the practicewhen they returnedto France. Quite exceptionally,Corot sketched enplein air from his student days in Parisin the I820S until the end of his life. Although he rarely sold these sketches, collectorsvied to obtain those that were available.The sketcheswere so esteemed that Corot placed some with an agency that rented them to artiststo use as models for their own landscapes. Corot discoveredthe Morvan, a region at the easternedge of France'sMassif Central, in I831 and stopped there again in I834 on his way to Italy.He returnedin the summers of

Jean-Desire-Gustave Courbet French, 1819-1877

View of Ornans

1841 and 1842, when he made a number of

Oil on canvas

pictures, including this sketch. From a neighboring hill he observed the Romanesque church that dominates the village, the steep roofs echoing the surroundingtopography. Corot boldly delineated the distant plains at left while carefullydefining details of the village houses at right. The panoramicformat is quite unusual for the artist;he used it only a few times to depict far-off towns.

283Y4 3664 in. (73 x 92.1 cm)

Signed(lowerleft): GustaveCourbet Bequest of Alice Tully, 1993 I995.537

This landscape, probablypaintedin the midI85os, stands at the beginning of a long series

of viewsof the countrysidearoundthe artist's nativetownof Ornans.The townmaybe churchsteeplethat identifiedby thedistinctive risesabovethe clusterof housesalongthe banksof the riverLoue.Hoveringin the distanceis the rockycliffknownas the Roche du Mont.The bridgehasbeentraditionally identifiedasthatof thetownof Scey-en-Varais, fromOrnans. locateda fewmilesdownstream thanthe in date later to be slightly Thought the Women Museum'sYoung from Villageof I85I-52 (acc. no. 40.175),whichit handsomely thepaintingherejoinsa handcomplements, fulof viewsof the Franche-Comte countryside in the Museum'scollection,althoughnone includesa viewof Ornansitself.A recent cleaninghasrestoredthe integrityof Courbet's characteristic earthypaletteof mutedgreens andbrowns. SAS

IIIz

1.1

I?e $ ?'

.i -IB .r

u:_d. ?-?,?

: S

?R9;s

a r:? ,I? r

r o:r? ;?

?*I ?'r

Vincent van Gogh Dutch, i853-i890

Women Picking Olives I889

Oil on canvas 28%2x 357/ in. (72.4 x 9p.I cm) The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Partial Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 1995 I995-535

Like cypresses,the subject of olive orchards is intimately associatedwith the period when VanGogh workedin Saint-Remy(May I889May I890). During his year-longconfinement at the asylum he painted some fifteen canvasesdepictingolive trees,among them a group of three oils made in December and early January1889-90 that show women picking olives. The three canvases,which are nearly identical in size and quite similarin composition and palette, include the present example and versions in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and a Swiss privatecollection. Scholarshave tentatively identified the

National Gallerypicture as Van Gogh's original composition;this versionas the replica made for his mother and sisterWillemien; and the one in Switzerlandas the replicamade for his brotherTheo. The artistconsideredthe vast majorityof his canvasesstudies but used the designation tableau(or finished painting) for this composition, which he regarded highly. He sketched it in a letter to Gauguin (now lost) and intended to reproduceit as a lithograph.A drawing of the motif, made from memory in Auvers in the summer of 1890, is preservedin a sketchbook in the RijksmuseumVincent van Gogh, Amsterdam. SAS

Pierre Bonnard French, I867-1947

A False Step Ca. 1892-93

and ink overgraphiteon wovepaper Watercolor 71 x 54 in. (8.5 x I3.5 cm)

Signed(upperright)in blackink:PB (monogram) Purchase, Karen B. Cohen Gift, Harry G. Sperling Fund, and Bequest of Clifford A. Furst, by exchange, I995 I995.36

The youngBonnardenjoyedcaricaturing membersof his familyin whimsicalscenes thatturnedeverydayeventsinto decorative tableaux.He hadcomeunderthe spellof Gauguin'sart,withits yearningafternaYvete in spiritandsimplicityin design.Thushis earliestpictures-like manycreatedby his colleagues,who calledthemselvesNabis,as of a newmovement-bearsome "messengers" similarityto medievalstainedglassaswell as to the fin-de-siecle ArtNouveau. In thisendearingwork,a watercolor of freshness the first fin(indeed extraordinary ishedBonnarddrawingto entertheMuseum's

collection),theartist'ssisterAndreeis seen leaningagainsta treeandholdinghershoe. The youngwoman'scurvedfigure,arched foot, flexedhand,andtousledhairall seem to be sweptinto mellifluousarabesques like thosethatdescribethe tree'strunkand branch.At the sametimeAndree'spresumed misstep,perhapstakenwhileplayingwiththe familydogsin the gardenof the Bonnard houseat Le Clos,servesto definepictorially andliterallythe term"fauxpas."Artfuljokes likethisonewerespecialties of Bonnard and hisfriendsToulouse-Lautrec andFelixVallotton. ci

NORTH

AMERICA

1700-1900

Edward Sheffield Bartholomew American, 1822-I858

Blind Homer Led by the Genius of Poetry I851I

Marble 29

x 20 in. (73.7x 5o.8 cm)

Signedand dated (bottomright):E.S. BartholomewFecit/Roma 1i8i; inscribed (underplinth): OMHPOL [Homer] Purchase, Morris K. Jesup Fund, and Gift of William Nelson, by exchange, 1996 1996.74

One of manyAmericanneoclassicalsculptors who establishedthemselvesin Italyduringthe mid-nineteenthcentury,Bartholomewhad a short-livedbut successfulcareer.He enjoyed the steadypatronageof Americanswho made the grandtour and orderedportraitsand ideal compositionsfrom him in Rome. His first extantItalianeffort,Blind HomerLedbythe GeniusofPoetrywas begun shortlyafterhe arrivedin the EternalCity in JanuaryI85I. Blind Homerattests to Bartholomew's command of the illusionistic and technical challengesof relief sculpture.The figures

project convincingly as Poetry leads Homer acrossa plinth. They are dressedin Classical garb that clings to their bodies yet falls in stylizing folds, suggesting the pull between realismand idealism often evident in midnineteenth-centuryAmericansculpture.This relief-and indeed many by Bartholomew and other Americans-reflects the profound influence of the works of Antonio Canova (I757-I822), especiallyin the crisp linearityof form and the refined carving.The marbleis surroundedby its original gilt-wood frame. TT

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

Samuel Colt American, I814-1862

Gustave Young American, 1827-1895

Colt Third Model Dragoon Revolver American(Hartford,Connecticut),ca. 1853 Steel,brass,gold, and wood L. 14 in. (35.6cm) Serialno. 12406 Gift of George and Butonne Repaire, 1995 I995.336

on the mate to our pistol, in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.The pairwere separated in I854, during the Crimean War between Russiaand Turkey,when Colt presented one to Czar Nicholas I and the other (which became the Museum's)to Sultan AbdiilmecidI. Althoughintendedto promote sales by demonstratingthe technical and artisticqualitiesof Colt's products, the patriotic motifs of these gifts also proudly proclaimedtheir Americanorigin.

Colt patented the first mass-produced multishot revolvingfirearms,therebyensuringhimself enduring fame as one of America'smost successfulinventorsand entrepreneurs.His standardrevolverswere worksof precisionand reliabilityhighly valued by soldiersand frontiersmen, and his deluxe arms, made for exhibition or presentation,were appreciatedfor theirelegantengraveddecoration.Our pistol is one of only a handfulof gold-inlaidexamples and is consideredone of Colt's finestworks. The ornament is the invention of the German-bornengraverGustaveYoung,whose crispand elegantscrollworkset the standard for all future American firearmsdecoration. The gold inlay includes a bust of George Washingtonset flush into the cylinderand the arms of the United States in low relief on the frame. Complementaryimageryis found 49

cc~s~ ~mill.

1111111_:-;''SiNo_-u

_/ -_I I -u_ill

1111111_

u h u

, .

IO lt

*a C

~~~~--~~~~~~~~L~~~~~~-,e I

, 9 m __I..- ,

-a -

f- -^ W/ .

'k-.I

i iq

1so. Ls] ,< ' _

El ,

A_ I 'IRW-

-? ? i-'.

't pq

'1.

I DUb.ikU Epp

Xxl"

U U U

IF-..-A

M6m __i0

I I

LQ i;Tji

li'D

1996.4

----

0 Ai

Purchase, William Cullen Bryant Fellows Gifts, I996

.,I

ID_ 'IRM TV

'0,

H i'.

?; i-?

.< pi

w -

.I'

| A

Mm qw .

I mimi N=IE _I

'--?

I-

_dMJ 1

EI"-

_&6

_ah-E _

I-

.IF?

I-

Signature Quilt American(RhodeIsland),I857-64 Silk 77x 80 in. (195.6x 203.2 cm)

?:?.

A?? 4

rZd,

Adeline Harris (Sears) American,1839-1931

I-

mill-I

[

In I857 nineteen-year-oldAdeline Harris,the daughterof a well-to-do Rhode Islandmill owner, conceived of a unique quilt-making projectthatwas to takeeight yearsto complete. She sent small diamond-shapedpieces of white silk worldwide to people she esteemed as the most importantfiguresof her day,asking each to sign the silk and return it to her. By 1864,when the pieceswereall returnedand ready to be stitched into a "tumbling-blocks" quilt, Harrishad collectedthe signaturesof six Americanpresidents,luminariesfrom the worlds of science, religion, and the military, authorssuch as CharlesDickens and Ralph Waldo Emerson,and an arrayof artists.Today the namesshe chose to includeprovideus with an intriguing glimpse into the way an educated New Englandwoman of the mid-century viewed the world. While many of those selected were obvious leaderssuch as bishops and politicians, Harrisalso sought the signatures of women writersand educators,as well as those of abolitionists.A descriptionof Harris'squilt publishedin Godey's LadysBook in 1864hailed it as "amarvelof woman'singenious and intellectualindustry."Beautifulas well as fascinating,it remainsa marveltoday. AP

q94

gdnggilttherir' ih:combinam of crn the bronze mounts, and marquetrysuggest a special commission. To date the unusual pierced, carved,and gilded panel in the back is found only on the side chairsin this suite, which is linked to Edwin Denison Morgan (181i-1883), governorof New Yorkfrom I858 to 1862.The huskyproportionsand the carved foliageon the stiles, here bandedacanthuson the lobe-shaped"ears"of the back, relatethe chair to earlierexamplesin the Herter oeuvre, such as the side chairsof about I86o from the receptionroom of the RugglesS. Morsemansion in Portland,Maine.At the same time, the arched crest rail, culminating in a stylized anthemion with gilded tendrilsof low-reliefcarvediv)yand the sphericalcapitalsatop taperedlegs decoratedwith incised and gilded pendantsareelementsin the Herters'"neo-Grec" of the post-Civil Warperiod.The vocabularnr marquetrypatternon the seat railsis identical to that on other chairs dating to about 1870, notably a rosewood "sewing"chair, now in the St. Louis Art Museum. The form of the is original,but the show cover,once upholstery' a blue Frenchsilk, is a replacement.

's.1`'2 . .; A_ lb;' r

ffi ..

,1~1 I

&'i

;

tt.

, . ,. .SJff

C( VN

..I

Karl L. H. Miiller (designer) American, I820-1887

Union Porcelain Works (manufacturer) American(Greenpoint,Brooklyn,New York), I863-ca. 1922

Century Vase American(Greenpoint,Brooklyn,New York), I876

Porcelain H. 224 in. (56.5 cm)

Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Scheider Gift, I996 1996.95

When the Union PorcelainWorks prepared for their display at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876, they hired sculptor KarlMiiller to design their special exhibition works;some, like the Century vase, were large in scale. A pair of fully decorated examples,set on classicalporcelain pedestalsalsodesignedby Miller (one of which is in the Museum'scollection,acc. no. 68.99.I), were among the most impressiveof their booth. The six largeversionsknown to have survivedare embellishedwith motifs that celebratethe nation'spast. A bisque profile portrait of George Washington adorns either side of each vase, and North Americanbison heads serve as handles. Six bisque relief panels around each base portrayscenes from Americanhistory,among them William Penn at the treatywith the Indians, the Boston Tea Party,and other Colonialfiguresand incidents. Our vase, though lackingthe elaborate overglazeembellishmentfound on other examples,is strikingin its simplicityand highlights the contrastbetween bisque and glazedareas. It was nevercompleted,probablybecauseit sufferedminor firingflaws.The vase remained at the Union PorcelainWorksuntil at least1913 and probablyuntil the factoryclosedabout1922. ACF

. -:

/1 /7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11

Winslow Homer American, I836-IIo0

A Basket of Clams 1873 Watercolor onpaper II2

x 934 in. (29.2 x 24.8 cm)

Signedand dated (lowerleft corner): Homeri873 Gift of Arthur G. Altschul, 1995 995.378

In June 1873Homer went to Gloucester, Massachusetts,wherehe paintedhis firstwatercolors, depictions of the local children playing in dories, sitting on wharves,helping with chores, or simply preoccupiedby their own youthful concerns. One of the most delightful products of that summer of experimentation is A Basketof Clams.Although we have an exceptionalcollection of Homer's works, this is the earliestwatercolorby him to be acquiredby the Museum. The artistsums up the modest responsibilities of childhood in this engaging image of two boys carryinga largebasket of clams along a shell-strewnbeach. The background buildingsand the croppedtwo-mastedsailboat

referto Gloucester'smaritimeactivity.This charmingsheet typifies the direct observation, vigorous design, and dazzlinglight of Homer's first watercolors.Remindersof his experienceas an illustratorare evident in his sense of pattern, use of sharpoutlines and flat washes, and attention to detail. Homer sharedan interest in childhood with manyAmericanartistsof the I870s. Their paintings respondedto the spirit of the postbellum era, when the desire for national healing and the challengesof urbanand industrial growth made children symbols of a simpler and more innocent time and of America'shope for the future. HBW

CharlesCarylColeman American, 1840-1928

Apple Blossoms I889

Oil on canvas 35 in. (158.4 x 88.9 cm) Signedand dated (lowerright):CCC ROMA 623Y x

I889

Barbara and John Robinson Fund and Marguerite and Frank A. Cosgrove Jr. Fund, 1996 I996.I02

.~1

1,:

.lI

While living in Italy,expatriateColeman devised a type of large-scalestill-life painting that is synonymous with his name. Of the six known examples,AppleBlossomsis the most subtle and demonstratesthe spirit of the internationalAesthetic Movement, in which Coleman participated. Artists of the Aesthetic Movement aimed to create harmoniousensembles based on inventive borrowingand recombinationof elementsfrom many traditions.Thus in Apple Blossoms Colemanarrangeda Near Eastern-style textile and Renaissance-inspiredceramicand glassvases in very shallow relief againsta damaskbackgroundin a composition that suggestshis appreciationof Japaneseprintsand paintings.The flowers,the tactile petals of which recallColeman'sstudy underThomas Couture,engagein a delightfulvisualdialogue with their stylized counterpartsornamenting the man-made forms. Integralto the painting's decorativeeffect is its original frame. The objectsand textilesportrayedwereprobablypartof Coleman'slargecollection(someof which he sold to HenryG. Marquand,who purchasedthem on behalfof the Metropolitanin and the earlyI89os). Thus both AppleBlossoms its creatorreflectthe keen enthusiasmfor collecting that was at the heartof the founding and earlyhistoryof the Museum. HBW

Walter Shirlaw American, 1838-1909

Coral (studyfor mural, World's ColumbianExposition, Chicago) Ca. 1892

Charcoalandpastel on tan wovepaper 54 12X 3 3 in. (138.4 x 8o.6 cm)

Signed(lowerright):WShirlaw Purchase, Jacqueline Loewe Fowler Gift, I995 I995.374 As an easel painter,Munich-trainedShirlaw concentratedon rustic genre scenes and landscapes with animals;he recordedNative Americanlife during a United States government expedition to the West in I889. Shirlaw also participatedin the mural movement that arosein the mid-I88os in responseto the increasedambitions of Americanpublic and privatearchitecture. One of Shirlaw'smost important mural projectswas the decorationof one of the two entrancedomes of the north portal of the Manufacturesand LiberalArts Buildingat the 1893World'sColumbianExpositionin Chicago. To expressthe theme TheAbundance ofLand and Sea,Shirlawpainted in two pendentives, Silverand Gold,lifesize allegoricalfiguresclad in gray or yellow and standing on nuggets of the preciousmetals. In the opposite pendentives were Pearl,poised on an oyster shell, and Coral,placing a red ornament in her hair. Our drawing is a study for Coral. ShirlawdepictedCoralasa Michelangelesque figure. The strong linear quality of the largescale drawing is complemented by robust modeling that emphasizesthe woman'spowerful physiqueand swirlingdrapery.The monochromaticfigure contrastswith subtle shades of pink and blue pastel in the architectural enframement. HBW

E N T I ET

Henry Moore British, 1898-1986

Reclining Figure, No. 4 I954-55

Bronze L. 234 in. (60.3 cm)

Partial and Promised Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard S. Field, 1995 i995. 6oo

CENTURY

During the sixtyyearsof his prolificand versatilecareerMoore extensivelyexplored the reclining figure. The development of this theme was subject to his successivestylistic directions as determined by his study of Hellenistic and Renaissanceart, the influence of Africanand Precolumbianobjects,his adaptation of the biomorphicvocabularyof Surrealism, and the synthesis of all of these tendencies in his laterwork. This bronze demonstratesthe more explicitly figuralcharacterof Moore'ssculpture during the I940s and 1950s.In the first three

of the seriesMoore presentedthe torso clothed (Nos. I and 3) and nude (No. 2), as a more fossilizedform (No. 3), and with garmentsthat clung to (No. i) or supersededthe body (No. 3). Here the arcof the draperyemphasizesthe left leg's rhythmiccurve,which is repeatedby the left arm.The featuresof these sculpturesare abbreviatedyet haunting:their torsos,broad and flattened;their armsand legs, slenderand brieflydefined. Prototypescan be found in Moore'sdrawingsof people shelteredin the London Undergroundduring the nocturnal bombardmentsof WorldWarII. LSS

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski) French,born1908 Summertime I935 Oil on canvas 23/8 X 283

in. (60 x 73 cm)

Purchase, Gift of Himan Brown, by exchange, I996 1996.176

The sleeping"shepherdess" is the artist'sEnglish Sheila friend,seventeen-year-old Pickering.She reclinesin the postureof Narcissusin Poussin's EchoandNarcissus(ca. I627; Louvre,Paris), which Balthushad copied in I925 and dedicated to his mentor, RainerMaria Rilke. Although Summertimecan be seen as a transpositionof Poussin'spaintinginto modern dress, it also evokes places from Balthus's own youth. The mountainscape,however,is made up of transformedand invented elements. The plateau on which the girl rests is imaginarybut is set on the Niederhorn in the BerneseAlps. The mountain on the left, the SigriswilerRothorn, abruptlyappearsabove a

valley that is not seen but that has been compressed.Beatenberg,where the artist spent his summers as a youth, would lie far below. In the brilliant,limpid light of Summertime, crisp forms suggest the crystallineatmosphere of great heights, and light and darksharply divide the composition. In I937 Balthus transformedthe bucolic scene into personalallegoryin his masterpiece TheMountain,which was acquiredby the Museum in 1982 (acc. no. I982.530).

There he

greatlyenlargedthe composition, extended the panorama,and added six figuresdrawn from works he admired and from his life. SR

IsabelBishop American, 1902-I988

Self-Portrait 1927

Oil on canvas I8/8x

4 in. (46x 35.6 cm)

Purchase,Gift of Professorand Mrs. Zevi Scharfstein,by exchange,1996 1996.19

In thisself-portrait the twenty-five-year-old painter(laterknownforherimagesof New Yorklife)stealsa sidewaysglancethatis both shyandintense.Herdarkeyesrivetattention on herplain,openfaceandroundedhead, whichareset off by the tightlypulled-back hairandthe useof sidelight.By not adding extraneous detailsof gesture,setting,or dress, the artistconveysherseriousness of purpose andstrengthof character. Thisis one of severalself-portraitsBishopmade about I927-28,

followingheryearsof studywith Kenneth HayesMillerat theArtStudentsLeague.(A sculptedportraitof Bishopat ageeighty-one, by PhilipGrausman,is alsoin the Museum's collection, acc. no. I987.253.)

Otto Dix German, 1891-1969

The Syphilitic 1920

Etching 9 8x 9 in. (25x 22.8 cm)

Purchase, Reba and Dave Williams Gift and John J. McKendry Fund, 1996 I996.171

TheSyphiliticdisplaysDix's talentsas a draftsman and mordant chroniclerof the Weimar Republic. The work belongs to a group of eighteendrypointsthatwerepublishedin three separate portfolios in 1921 and 1922. In these

images Dix points his trenchantstylus at prostitutes-fat and bony, young and old-murderers,war cripples(playingcardsor selling matches),butchers,and billiardplayers. In TheSyphiliticDix depicts anotherkind of cripple:a man in the tertiarystageof syphilis. His featuresare eaten awayby the deadly disease. Syringesare stuck into his mouth, 58

forehead,andjaw.In Dadaesquedisorderin hisheadfloatimagesof pastpleasures-buxom nakedladies,bootedlegs,andsperm-and presentpains-the namesof thediagnostics andtreatments WASSER/MANN, Tertiar, NeoSalvar, Gonosan, Queck... (quicksilver), andThyrer/menty, allof whichwereused beforethe discoveryof penicillinin the I940s.

The man'ssinisterandforbiddingprofile seemsto be scratchedlikea giganticgraffito into the crumblingstuccowallof a four-story Dix set in a building,whichthe ever-cynical cobblestone Dresden street. picturesque SR

from Lookingat examplesof portraiture variousart-historical periods,Bishopoften foundinspirationin Renaissance andBaroque art.Here,she combinedthe darkpaletteand reddishunderpainting of Rembrandt's portraits with the awkwardstiffnessof manyColonial Americanlikenesses.Explainingherpurpose in paintingself-portraits, Bishopnoted,"I wasn'tinterestedin myselfas a 'subject,'but moreas an 'object,'whichI hopedto make solid,and [setforth]in a certainlight." LMM

Max Beckmann German, I884-1950

Self-Portrait

----JJ

Lithograph I7V2X I483 in. (43.2 x 36.5 cm)

Anonymous Gift, in honor of Reba White Williams, I996 1996.208

Beckmannpainted his first self-portraitat the age of fifteen, his last at sixty-four,the year of his death.As the leitmotivof his oeuvre,these images recordthe artist'schanging physiognomy, moods, and situationsin a life marked by restlessness,success, exile, and emigration, and affectedby two worldwars.Made in nearly everyyearof his life and in all media, the more than eighty such works also display his fondness for disguise. In them Beckmannadopted roles as variedas strutting circus manager,harlequin,sailor,debonairladies'man, dandy,and

Herbert Ferber American, i906-I991

Portrait of David Hare I947 Bronze H. io in. (25.4 cm) Purchase, The Barnett Newman Foundation Gift, I996 1996.76

In I947-48 Ferbercreated three abstract "portrait"sculptures, of BarnettNewman (privatecollection, N.Y.), JacksonPollock (Museum of Modern Art, N.Y.), and David Hare (1917-1992). Ferber used biomorphic

and associativeforms to suggest particular characteristicsof his subjects. Here, for example, Hare'sgaunt presenceis referencedin the spiny, attenuatedforms. At this point, early in his career,Ferber was interestedin FrenchSurrealism.American artistshad contact with members of this movement in New YorkduringWorldWarII.

(Harewas editorof the Surrealistreview VVV) They introduced the Americansto techniques such as automaticwriting and to the cultivation of chance and accident in the artistic process,thus influencing the development of the New YorkSchool. Ferberused methods of direct metal working-such as welding-to create Portraitof David Hare. Both he and Hare belonged to the generationof sculptors-including David Smith, Theodore Roszak,and Ibrahim Lassaw-who first used these techniques, which were pioneered by the Spanishsculptor

abject immigrant. In this relativelyearlyself-portraitthe then twenty-seven-year-oldartistleans slightlyforward to better see his image in the mirror. Stronglight fromthe lowerrightcastsflickering shadowsoverthe handsomefacewith its strong chin and intense,expressiveeyes.Innumerable strokesof the soft lithographiccrayonmoving in all directionsbetraythe swiftworkingof the painter'sbrilliantdraftsmanship. SR

Julio Gonzalez in the I930s. Despite the allu-

sive natureof Ferber'sthree portraitsculptures, by the late I940s he was moving toward a more purely formalapproachin his work. LSS

Arturo Elizondo Mexican, bornI956 Young Kafka, a Dalai Lama I995 Oil on canvas 78x 103X8 in. (i98.Ix

26I.9 cm)

Signedand dated (lowerright):Elizondo95 Purchase, Mex-Am Cultural Foundation Inc. Gift, 1995 r995-334

Marble H. i2V4in. (3I.I cm) Gift of Carole M. Pesner, I995

Born in Mexico City and schooled as an artist in his own country, Elizondo has traveled extensively.He moved to New Yorksix years ago. Since then he has changed his artistic style from abstractionto meticulous representation that makes deliberatereferenceto the work of earlierMexican painters,for example,

I995.514

nineteenth-centuryportraitsby Hermengildo

Gaston Lachaise American(bornin France),1882-r935 Antoinette Kraushaar (1902-1992) 1923

Bustos and the seamlessbricolageof Surrealist FridaKahlo. A slightly larger-than-lifecentral figure of a youth dominates the canvas. Elizondo based him closely on a photographof Franz Kafkataken a centuryago, when the writer was about thirteen.The artisthas aged Kafka's featuressomewhat and added beneath his suit jacket a sash in the red, white, and green of the Mexican flag. In Kafka'sright hand is a rose sheddingpetals;these multiplyand waft acrossthe canvaslike strangegiant snowflakes. To suggest that Kafkawas an enlightened being, Elizondopositionedhim in a landscape associatedwith the spiritual,the peaks of Tibet. With the mountainsbehind him, Kafka stands erect on a lake, barely rippling its reflectivesurface. NR

Best known for his figure sculptures,Lachaise was also a successfulportraitartist. He was most intenselyinvolvedwith this genre during the I920s, completing more than seventy-five likenesses. Lachaise'sapproachto portraiturewas laborious.He modeled the subject in clay, renderedit in plaster,and then carvedor cast the final version. He noted that he was interested in capturingwhat he called a "likeness with the skin removed."This work is surprisingly subtle. Lachaiseabandonedthe crisp lines and broad generalizationsof his usual portraitstyle for a more sensitive rendering. Kraushaar,whose father,John, became Lachaise'sdealer in I921, later noted that she had additional sittings-even afterthe plaster was completed-so that Lachaisecould make changes. Kraushaarsucceededher fatheras director of his galleryin I946. This portraitwas given to the Museum by the present president of LSS KraushaarGalleries. 6o

f.I

-lb

Thomas Struth German,born1954 San Zaccaria I995 print Chromogenic 7IY8 X 904 in. (18.9 x 230.5 cm) Purchase, The Howard Gilman Foundation Gift, 1996 1996.297

In the center of Struth'senormous photograph is Bellini'sluminous San Zaccariaaltarpiece (1505),which reigns over the adjacent paintings and the surroundingspace. The Madonna and Child and saints sharean attitude of deeply spiritualcommunion and radiate a calm that reachesbeyond the airy apse in which they are ensconced. Through his masteryof light and perspectiveBellini creates the illusion that the picture'sspace exists just past the wall, whereasStruth uses photography'strompe-l'oeileffect to bring the marbleniche forward,as if it were floating on the surfaceof the photograph.Two touristpilgrims enrapturedby the painting demonstrateits scale;others, quiet and meditative,

seated in the pews, markoff the recedingperspective. Everythingin the photographseems a part of one sensuous, orderlyworld-as if Bellini'sand Struth'smonumental images of sacredspaceswashed in translucentVenetian light actuallywere of the same moment. Struth'spicture unifies the timeless and the ephemeral,making the ideal and the real two perspectiveson the same theme. But if his photographrivalspainting on the high ground of seriousnessand looks back upon five hundred yearsof tradition, it also faces forward:it will convey this inheritanceto the next new medium, which will, in turn, reflect upon photographyand painting. MMH

Lee Krasner American,I908-I984 Night Creatures 1965

Acryliconpaper 3o x 4292 in. (76.2 x I08 cm)

Signedand dated (lowerleft):LeeKrasner65 Gift of Robert and Sarah W. Miller, in memory of Lee Krasner, I995 I995.595.2

One imagines that hidden within the thicket of Krasner'sblack and white paint strokesare menacing eyes, heads, and even entire figures surroundedby dense foliage. Such suggested imagesarecommon in her laterabstractwork, growing out of her earlierfigure studies and still-life compositions. What distinguishes this particulardrawing-and others like it from the mid-Ig6os-are the raw intensity and primal power engenderedfrom the figurative images and the artist'sforcefulyet controlled handling of the medium. Executed on paper,this work deliversan even greateremotional impact than her larger

oils on canvasof the same period. The title was suggestedby the artdealerFranklinSiden when he exhibited Krasner'spaintings on paper (including this one) in his Detroit galleryin I965, shortly after Night Creatures was completed. The gesturalbrushwork,rich surfacetexture, and alloverrhythmic movement remind one that Krasneris placed in the first generation of AbstractExpressionists. Its haunting, somber color scheme (black, white, and a touch of rust)also alliesthis work with her seriesof paintingsof 1959-63,which was paintedat night and calledNight Journeys. LMM

A'-

'4p,f

tr-

.11,

I Aaftmft

..V A, 'I

For Warhol,the photo booth represented a quintessentiallymodernintersectionof mass entertainmentand privateself-contemplation. In these little curtainedtheatersthe sitter could secretlyadopt a successionof different roles, each capturedin a single frame;the resultingstrip of four poses resembleda snippet of film footage. The serial, mechanical nature of the stripsprovidedWarholwith an ideal model for his multiple-imagepaintings, as well as for his aesthetic of passivity,detachment, and instantcelebrity.Here,Warholhas adoptedthe surly,ultracoolpersonaof such movie starsas MarlonBrandoandJamesDean, icons of the youth culturethat he idolized. These stripswere owned by the collectorSam Wagstaffand, afterhis death,by his friend the photographerRobert Mapplethorpe. DE

Charles Ray American,bornI953 Untitled I973 Gelatinsilverprint 27x 40 in. (68.6x Ioi.6 cm) Purchase, Robert Shapazian Gift, Samuel J. Wagstaff Jr. Bequest, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift and Harriette and Noel Levine Gift, I995 Andy Warhol

Trainedas a sculptor in the early seventies when Minimal art held sway,Ray became skilled in fine-tuning the abstractqualitiesof sculpture.He wielded scale and proportion with preciseaplomb, but he found he could not stomach the coolly inhuman element in Minimalism. Ray instinctivelyknew that the artist'sfirst concern when working in three dimensions is the human body-as reference, implicit subject, or field of experience. Ray made this photographof himselfwhile in artschool. A neat critiqueof abstraction,it representsan earlyvictory in his campaignto recapturethe body for art. The work also confronts the modern tendency to bind and gag our visceralresponses.Hovering overhead in disquieting equipoise, Ray in this situation suggestsboth artisticcontrol and personal submission;accordingto this same duality, the picture'sformalperfection is in service to a "happening," a momentarygestureof aesthetic activism.The artist'sdeadpan,mock-aggressive tone is deliriouslyliteral;with an ironyworthy of Ray'sidol Buster Keaton, the photograph is a characteristically witty crossbetween a dangerouslyclose call and a good joke. MMH

I99 5474

American, 1928-I987

Photo Booth Self-Portrait Ca. I964

Twogelatin silverprints Each 74X i 2 in. (9.7 x 3.8 cm)

Purchase, Rogers Fund, Joyce and Robert Menschel, Adriana and Robert Mnuchin, Harry Kahn, and Anonymous Gifts, in memory of Eugene M. Schwartz, 1996 i996.63

This pair of photo-booth strips is one of Warhol'searliestexperimentswith photography,a medium that increasinglydominated his art during his peak yearsof innovation, from 1962 to 1968. Warholbegan using the booth in 1963,while he "four-for-a-quarter" was still working as a commercialartist. Obsessedwith this popular,ubiquitous device, he asked his friends and associatesto sit for their portraitsand used the images as sourcematerialfor largersilk-screenpaintings. 63

Views, including Venice,Morning;Venice, multiplelevelsof meaningin thefragmented WhentheFourSeasonsrestaurant Afternoon;Venice,Evening;and Venice,Night. composition.

James Rosenquist American,born 933

Flowers,Fish, and Females

changedownershipin I995,the Metropolitan

1984 Oil on canvas X 287 in. (229.9 x 729 cm) 902 Gift of Tom Margittai and Paul Kovi, 1995 I995.436 In late I983 Rosenquistwas commissioned to create a mural for the elegant New York restaurantthe Four Seasons (designed by Philip Johnson); he painted this complex composition in his Floridastudio during the first three months of I984. His decision to juxtaposebeautifulwomen, lush flowers(roses, callalilies,chrysanthemums,and anthurium), and colorfultrout may at firstseem disturbing, but they are,afterall, importantaspectsof the fine-dining experience.The artistnoted that he wanted "thepictureto have power,that it couldn'tbe reticent ... [or] fit in too comfortably [with the restaurant'sdecor]. . . . The hard part was establishinga vision that was tough and vivid and stayed loose and fluctuating." He successfullyaccomplishedthat vision by creatinga taut spacein which seemingly unrelatedimagesareplayfullyand unexpectedlyspliced togetherwith what the artist calls"crosshatching"-areasof an underpainted compositionthat have been exposedin long pointed strips.Without being given a cohesive narrativeto follow, the viewer is free to find

Purchase,Rebaand DaveWilliamsGift,

Although very different in color and texture, each of the Venetian images was printed from the same set of five plates,by JackShirreffand assistantsat the I07 Workshopin Wiltshire, England.Shirreffalsohand coloredthe prints accordingto Hodgkin'sinstructions. Venice,Eveningconsists of sixteen sheets assembledin rows of four. The sheets were painted beforeprintingwith two coats of blue wash. This delicate backgroundcontrasts with the grainy effects achieved by lift-ground aquatint, used for three plates, and with the relief effects createdby carborundumpaste, used for the other two plates. Furtherhand coloring after printing mutes some of the textural contrastsproduced by the different printing techniques, distills the luminous color, and establishesa darkenedframe at the

I995

periphery.

Museumreceived muralasa gift. Rosenquist's LMM

HowardHodgkin British, born1932

Venice,Evening I995

Hand-colored aquatintwithcarborundum Sixteen sheets, each I54 X I93A in. (40

49.2 cm)

Numbered, signed,anddated(lowerleftof sheet "'i): 41/60 HHi995

I995.425.2a-p

On the occasion of"Howard Hodgkin: Paintings 1975-I995,"an exhibition at the Metropolitan (November I995 to January 1996) of forty oils executed from 1975to I995, the Museum acquiredby gift and purchase seven huge etchings by Hodgkin. These richly demonstratethe artist'scareernot only as a painter but as a printmakerof exceptional originalityand distinction. Four of the prints acquiredarefrom the 1995seriesVenice

y?ws

<5:

florCimf

xt-? ^l '"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"+y,

k'*k1I '"~~

A MefffrAFf I - PL1,

~A ~ ~ A I~

,%`

"I 'I

Kiki Smith American,born1954 Lilith 1994 Bronzewith glasseyes H. 3I/2 in. (80 cm) Signedand inscribed(on leftfoot):Kiki Smith I994 I/3

Purchase, Roy R. and Marie S. Neuberger Gift, 1996 1996.27

The human body, usually female, as well as its components-its outer shell, inner organs, systems, and the liquids it produces-are the main visualvehiclesof Smith'swork in a range of media. The bronze Lilith, a sculpturein the round that hangs on the wall, was cast from life. The unusual posture, reminiscent of the crouching position of the airborne female figure in Rodin'sJe suis belle(1882), is meant to convey flight. With Lilith, Smith sought to turn a female demon of Talmudic folklore, the legendary "firstEve,"into a feminist heroine. Identified in postbiblicalJudaismas a vampirelikeseductresswho murdersnewbornchildren,Lilith also came to be identifiedas Adam'sfirstwife, createdfrom dust, not rib, to be her husband's equal. According to medieval biblical commentary,the pair quarreledas soon as Lilith was created.Insisting on their equality,she refusedto lie beneath Adam, while he argued that it was properfor him, as a man, to lie on top. Uttering God's ineffable name, Lilith spurnedsex in the as-yet-unnamedmissionary position and, defying gravity,flew out of Eden into anotherrealm.Thus the unusualpose and fiercegaze of the Smith sculpture. NR

Eva Zeisel

Lucie Rie

American,bornI906

British (born in Austria), 1902-1995

Inkwell

Squared Vase

1929-30

Ca. 1967

Glazedearthenware L. 93/8in. (23.8 cm) Gift of the artist, 1995

Stoneware

I995.440a-c

H. 128s in. (30.8 cm)

Gift of Max and Yvonne Mayer, in memory of Dame Lucie Rie, i995 I995.358

In 1928the Hungarian-bornZeisel beganworking as a ceramicdesignerat the Schramberg MajolicaFactoryin Germany.She had previouslyworkedin Hamburg,wherethe InternationalStylearchitectureof many of the new buildingshad a stronginfluenceon her work. Consequently,one finds a shift from her earlier, more whimsical folk-artstyle to her laterpreferencefor severegeometricforms.During her stay in Hamburg she had also become aware of the principlesof designespousedby the DeutscheWerkbundand the Bauhaus,both of which emphasizedpurityand functionof form. Zeisel'sglazed-earthenware inkwell,designed while she was employedat Schramberg,consists of two separateunits-a combined ink pot and pen tray and a pencil tray.Its strong horizontal lines and undecoratedsurfacesare boldly highlighted by the vibrant orangeglaze. By using such saturatedcolor,Zeiselwent beyond the "soulless"Modernistprinciplesof the I920S to createher own unique style, a blend of architectonicform, individuality,and charm.

Rie, one of the preeminentpotters of the twentieth century,studied ceramicsunder Michael Powolny (I871-I954) from 1922 to

at the Kunstgewerbeschulein Vienna. Her work was shown in the I925 and I937 ParisInternationalExpositions,and in the I930Sshe was awardedmedals at exhibitions in Brusselsand Milan. In 1938Rie immigratedto London, where she met the potterBernardLeach(I887-1979). Though for a time she attempted to emulate his oriental-and folk-pottery-basedaesthetics, she ultimatelywent her own way,creating ceramicsof sophisticatedand controlled refinement. Rie limited her forms for the most part to vases, bowls, and platters.Their appeallay in the eleganceof their shapesand the richness and varietyof their glazes. She experimented with a wide spectrumof colors,and her glazes rangedfrom smooth to deeply pitted. She seldom applieddecoration,and when it appeared it was abstractand discreet,used to enhance 1926

thepieceratherthanto callattentionto itself. Thisvase,a superbexampleof oneof Rie's mostsuccessful stoneware glazes,comesto the Museumdirectlyfromtheartist'scollection. JDG

Rene Jules Lalique French, I860-1945

Necklace Ca. I900

Gold, enamel,fire opals,and Siberianamethysts Diam. 9/2 in. (24.1 cm)

Gift of Lillian Nassau, I985 1985. 14

Laliquewas born in the Marneregionof France. As a young student he showed great artistic promise, and his mother guided him toward jewelrymaking. From1876to 1878he apprenticed with Louis Aucoc, a leading Parisian jeweler.By the I890s Laliquehad opened his own workshopin Parisand was one of the most admiredjewelersof the time. Laliquewas not interestedin using precious stonessuch as diamonds,emeralds,or rubies nor in the cassical settingsof the time. Rather, he combinedsemipreciousstoneswith horn, ivory,coral,rockcrystal,and irregularlyshaped baroquepearls.

He designed the necklacefor his second wife, Augustine-AliceLedru,aroundthe turn of the century.The repeatsof the main motif-an attenuatedfemalenude whose highly stylizedcurls swirl aroundher head and whose armssensuouslycurve down to become the borderenclosing enamel-andgold swansand an oval cabochon amethystare separatedby fire opals set in golden swirlingtendrils. It is one of the most evocative and powerfulexpressionsof Lalique'sart. The necklacewas receivedfrom Lillian Nassau as a partialgift in I985 and in entirety upon her death in I996. JA

Madame Gres French, I903-I993

Evening Ensemble Earlyi98os Navy and deeprosesilk shantungandfiille Bodice:I. (centerback)33/ in. (85.i cm);skirt: I. (centerback)4/1 in. (Io6.2 cm);shoes: 1.(heelto toe) 8/ in. (21 cm) Label (inter-iorright-sideseam):Gris/ Paris Gift of Mary M. and William W. Wilson III, 1996 i996. I28.ia-d

Madame Gres'ssublime, highly sensuous design reflectsan animated dynamic between austereline and exaggeratedcontour.Itsdraped and fittedbodiceexplodesfromthe waistin a voluminous bubble skirt, whose undulating volume is in dramaticopposition to the columnarskirt below. Since her working method was devoid of sketchesand patterns,Gres'sconpreparatory ceptsoriginatedin the three-dimensional drape, twist, and pleat of fabricon a live model. Inducedby style ratherthan by fashion,the resultingdesignsaretimelesssolutionsto controlled explorationscombining figureand cloth. Although she is best known for her Classicallyinspireddiaphanousdrapesin silk jersey,Gres'spassionfor fabricis equallyevident in her constructionsof crisptaffetas, sumptuousbrocades,and iridescentfailles. This dynamicsilhouette-the bifurcatedtunic workedof changeantrosefaillejuxtaposedwith iridescentdenim-bluepinstripedshantungand the skirtand shoesof navyshantung-is furtheractivatedby the interplayof textilevariation and the injectionof vibrantcolor. An avid student of historicaland exotic dress, GrCsdid not mimic but absorbedand translateddiscrete elements into her own eclectic vernacular.This piece resonateswith of buoyanteighteenth-century the extravagance overskirts. polonaise JAL

HowardBen Tre American,borni949 Siphon 1989

waxes Glass,brass,goldleaf,andpigmented W 95 in. (24I.3 cm)

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Chazan, I995 I995-585

As a young art student at PortlandState University,Oregon, Ben Tre began to use glass for his sculpturesand became attracted to the expressivepossibilitiesof the medium in his intellectual foraysinto the history of humanity. Since the I980s Ben Tre has used an uncolored, greenishglass to capturelight as it is transmittedthrough or reflectedfrom his

sculptures.He infuses the opaque or translucent forms with iron or lead powders or copper, brass,and gold leaf to suggesta prehistoric or archaeologicpresence.He conjuresa sense of ancientarchitecture,ruins, prehistorictools, even Egyptiantombs,all of which aresignificant to his musingsaboutritualand spirituality. Siphon,a monumentalfreestandingsculpture, is one in the artist'sseriesVesselsof Light. The word siphoncomes from the archaicGreek and means a tube or conduit that is bent into unequallengths in orderto drawliquid from one containerinto another.Ben Tre'ssiphon drawslight from its surroundingsand captures interior. it within its gold-leaf-and-brass-lined The interactionconveysa sense that this is a ritualobject as well as a purelyaestheticwork of contemporaryMinimalism. JA

Joe Colombo Italian, I930-I97I

Multi-chair 1970

Texturedknit syntheticfabric, urethanefoam, metal,and leather H. 25/8 in. (64.5 cm) Purchase, David Kiehl Gift, I995 995.479.I

Colombo, one of the most innovativeMilanese industrialdesigners,began his careeras an avant-gardepainterbeforeturningto architecture and design. His first building was completed while he was still in architectureschool. From1962 until his untimely death in 1971, Colombo concentratedon interiorarchitecture as well as furniture.His designsemphasized modularity,ergonomics,and mass-producibility, and he experimentedwith technologically advancedmaterialssuch as injection-molded plasticsand plasticlaminates.The "Multi-chair"

is a modularsystem consisting of two stuffed and upholsteredcushions held together by a leatherstrap fastened to the sides by metal hooks. The pillowscan be repositionedeasily for use as a dining chair,a recliner,or a numberof othertypesof seating.The "Multi-chair," one of the artist'slastdesigns,is a considerably more developedand more efficientsolutionwith fewerpartsto manufacture-to economic andergonomicproblemshe addressedin earlier models. JA

AFRICA,

Ezomo Ehenua's Ikegobo Nigeria (Courtof Benin), Edo, i8th-igth century Brass H. I3 in. (33 cm)

Rogers Fund, 1996 I996. i

Oba with SacificialAnimals Nigeria (CourtofBenin), Edo, i8th-igth century Brass H. 4/8 in. (12.4 cm)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 199I I99I.17.113

OCEAN

IA,

Ikegobo,or "altarsto the hand," celebratethe accomplishmentsof exceptionalindividuals. The ikegoboof Ezomo Ehenua is an artistic landmarkas well as an importanthistorical document from the kingdom of Benin. In the early eighteenth century Ehenua, a military leader,distinguishedhimself by securing the authorityof the reigning oba,Akenzua I, during a period of civil war. Ehenua'sheroism is celebratedin a frieze extending around his altarthat capturesboth an individual victory and the collective triumphsof his career. The style of representationis reminiscent of Benin palace plaques in its preciserendering of trophies,weaponry,and ritualparaphernaliaand its use of hierarchicscaleto denote the relativestatus of flankingsoldiers,attendants, and priests.Unique, however,are the active and dynamic stancesof the figural

AND

THE

group, which includes Europeansoldiers, at the summit. This work is the main component of an eighteenth-centuryaltarthat was cast in a number of units. One such passage,which attachesto the altar'ssummit, entered the collection independently as a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls.It capturesOba Akenzua in the act of performingsacrificesto his ancestorsso that Ehenuawill prevailand triumph over the kingdom'sadversaries.Unlike most Benin art predatingthe British Punitive Expedition of 1897, it remainedin Benin in the possessionof Ehenua'sdescendants,who inherited the Ezomo title. Their alterationof the work over time through additions and substitutions is a testament to its continued relevanceand vitality. AL

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

AMERICA Lizard Man (Moai Tangata Moko) Polynesia(EasterIsland),earlyi8th century Wood L. Ip-8 in. (49 cm) Rogers Fund, I995 1995.416

s This EasterIsland moko(lizardman) figure is one of the finest examplesof its type known. Workingwith a standardizediconography and using volcanic glass (obsidian) as his primarytool, the artist-priest(tuhunga)produced a work of perfectbalanceand rhythm. Because of the widespreaddistributionof the moko lizardin Polynesianmythology throughoutthe Pacific,it is apparentthat the concept is very ancient.The firstinhabitantsof EasterIsland arrivedat this remotelocation aroundA.D.450, bringinga complex mythology from their homelandin the Society Islandsin eastern Polynesia.From the few availableand reliable sourcesof informationwe have about these lizardfiguresand their use in pre-Christian

EasterIslandsociety, it appearsthat they were used mainly by supernaturallygifted individuals as tools for communication with deified spirits.Another use of similarlizardmen occurredduring harvestfestivals,when a varietyof wooden images were brought out from hiding places and were suspended by strings from around the necks of their owners, who wore body paint and would sing and chant for their main god, Make-Make, holding these figurescradled in their arms. MG

Wari culture was still strong. Formedfrom a single piece of fine-grainedwood, the lowrelief carvingon the back of the squareframe depicts a human figurestandingon a balsaraft that has a prow and stern in the shape of fangedprofileanimalheads.The figure,wearing a plumed crescentheaddressand serpentbelt, holds a tumi (ceremonialknife) and a war club in his hands. From his mouth emerges a long L-shapedelement, probablyhis tongue, also terminatingin a zoomorphichead. The boat theme appearsfrequentlyon Chimu ceramics,textiles, metalwork,and architectural reliefs, indicating the importancemaritime activity had for the Chimu people. Along the top of the frame are four threedimensional broad-facedheads. Carvedwith considerabledetail and naturalism,they are stylisticallyrelatedto the Waricarvingtradition. The mirrorframe may originallyhave been coveredwith thin sheet gold fastenedwith tiny silver nails, many of which remain.The front has a shallow circularcavity in the center that once held a mirror,probablymade of pyrite. HK

Standing Figure Ecuadoror Colombia(Tolita-Tumaco), ist-4th century Hammeredgold H. 9 in.

(22.9

cm)

Jan Mitchell and Sons Collection, Gift of Jan Mitchell, I995 1995.427 The gold figuresof the Tolita-Tumacoareaare among the more unusualPrecolumbiangold objects.Made of manypiecesof hammered sheet gold joined to produce hollow threedimensional figures,they are akin in overall shapeto contemporaryceramicfigures.Details depicting gold elements appearin ceramic imagery in many Andean goldworking areas, but the direct similarityof overall form in ceramic and gold objects is very rare.The Tolita-Tumacogold figures are themselves rare, and their ancient function is conjectural, although it is probable that they were meant to be clothed in some appropriate fashion. The present figure is distinguished by its elaboratenose ornament and embellished ears, raised arms, and hands in which now-missing objects were once held. Its gold feet, too, are missing. 74

The Tolita-Tumacoarea-a hot, humid coastal region that crossesthe modern Ecuador-Colombiaborder-is the location of the earliestgoldwork in northwesternSouth America. During the first centuriesA.D. elegant objects were made in Tolita-Tumaco, many of them personalitems such as nose and ear ornamentsand pendant disks. Large gold masks and three-dimensionalfigures such as this example are the most significant Tolita-Tumacoproductions. JJ

Mirror Frame with Handle Peru (Wari-Chimu),Ioth-I2th century Woodand silver H. io?4in. (26 cm) Gift of Joyce and Ted Strauss, I995 I995-428

The imageryand carvingstyle on this mirror frame suggest it was made by the Chimu people on Peru'snorthern coast at a time when the influence of the southern highland

ASIA

Jar Chinese,Six Dynasties(late Northerndynasties period)-Sui dynasty,ca. late 6th century Earthenwarewith reliefdecorationunderolive'-=,~lc`~p29i~4~4 =9i~,~,ZZ~a :~~

greenglaze H. I7/8 in. (35.2cm) Purchase, Stanley Herzman Gift, I996 1I996.I5

;l;~:'i;"~6~i~;~, :.~?~7i',~',~5~5~5~55

'iâ&#x20AC;˘

_silver

.- j~ Zsmall

t;\~Frc

=)i~i~ '_r' +\*.,i _ S

_.11Gx _-

/_..;.

_'B

L;C

% 'uralistic

This splendid jar is a ming-ch'i,an object made especiallyfor burialwith the dead, and was used for ritualoffering of food in the tomb. The relativelyinexpensiveearthenware would have been a substitute for more costly or bronze, and the vessel copies metalware in both form and ornamentation. This fascinatingobjectis one of an extremely

stoneware orearthengroupof flamboyant warejars manufacturedin northern China during the second half of the sixth century. Many of the applieddecorativeelementson this group of elaboratevessels are taken from Buddhist ornamentalgrammar,and some of the motifs hereevidencea Buddhistconnection. style shows a definite rThe decorative _ Westernderivation,particularlyin the singular motif of pearl roundelscontaining heads with frontal Central Asian faces. These natufleshy faces have been sculpted in exquisite detail. This design, which clearly exhibits a CentralAsian Khotanese influence, apparentlyhas not been found on any other Chinese ceramics. The CentralAsian motif and the extremely high qualityof the jarlead to the theorythat it was manufacturedfor the tomb of an important memberof the largecommunityof foreignersliving in the northernChinesecapitals duringthe late sixth century.

~~' ~"~c""r~--'-~~'?*"E"iysrlPq.i 4 '- r-~~q\~SGV

75 The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin ÂŽ www.jstor.org

EmbroideredTextilewith Confronted Birds Chinese,Tang dynasty,early8th century Silk Approx. i2V4 x I2/8 in. (3.

x 30.8 cm)

Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1996 1996.103.2

In this raretextile of the High T'ang period confronted geese or ducks flank a large, leafy floweringstem. The embroideryis executedin long satin stitches using silk floss, a technique commonly found on T'ang textiles. Although symmetry is a basic element in Chinese design, the pattern of a pair of confrontinganimalsor birdson eitherside of a plant (the so-calledsacredtree)was not known in China until the opening of the Silk Road in the second century B.C.The Chinese version of this pattern is most likely one of many instances of the adaptationof decorative motifs from WesternAsia in the earlyT'ang period. In the version seen on this embroidery the birds stand on open lotuses, possibly indicating the influence of Buddhist art of the Pure Land School in CentralAsia in the seventh to eighth century. (In a furtheradaptation of this motif in interiorChina the birds became mandarinducks and symbolized maritalhappiness.) The edges of the embroidery,a complete object, are folded back, and the reverseis lined with a patternedsilk. On the corners are small knots, perhapsfor attachment of tasselsor weights, suggesting its use as a cover such as a pall. JCYW

WovenTextilewith Floral Medallion and Quatrefoils Chinese,T'angdynasty,early8th century Silk Approx.24 x 28 in. (6i x 71.1cm) Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1996 i996. ro3.i

This textileis a magnificentexampleof Chinese silk of the High T'ang period. The structure is of the type known as chin (weft-facedcompound weave). The floralmedallionis ubiquitousin T'ang textiles and decorativearts. Both the medallion and its individual elements (such as the alternatingopen and closed blossoms of the outermost circle) came from the eastern Mediterraneanand were transmittedthrough CentralAsia in the early centuriesof the Christianera. By the beginning of the eighth century the "Chinese"floralmedallion was

formed in easternCentralAsia-then part of the T'ang empire. This exampleis among the more complex of Chinese floralmedallions.The motif is used alone in other T'ang decorativearts, but in textiles it is alwayscombined with the quatrefoilpatternsseen here in the corners. The textile that comparesmost closely with ours is in the Shoso-in, Nara, Japan. Both the Shos6-in chin(madeinto a lute case) and the Museum'sfragmentare notable for the largescale of the design and the rich varietyof colors. JCYW

This incenseholderis madefroma sectionof bamboodecoratedwith openworkcarving, is released.The throughwhichthe fragrance scenedepicts"Laughter at TigerCreek,"the legendarystoryof the meetingof the famous BuddhistmonkHui-yuan(334-416)with the poet T'ao Yuan-mingandthe Taoistpriest on MountLu,whereHui-yuan's LuHsiu-ching the Tung-linssu,wassituated. monastery, Hui-yuanis showntalkingto T'aoYuan-ming undera pine tree,andLu Hsiu-chingstands on a bridgeon the othersideof the vessel. fantasticrocks Severallayersof perforated anda pinetreewith scalytrunkandtwisting branchesconstitutethe shallowcompact signatureappears backdrop.Chu San-sung's rock. in intaglioon a foreground A nativeof Chia-ting,a centerof bamboo carvingsincethe earlysixteenthcentury, and Chu San-sungsharedhis grandfather's father'sfameas mastersin thisart.A bamboo incenseholdersignedby his father,Chu in a 1966 Hsiao-sung(I520-I587),discovered a of a tombdatedto I579,carries excavation narrative scenewitha similarly compactcomposition.However,ourpieceis moredeveloped in theuseof high-relief carving,a characteristic of theChia-tingschool. WAS

ThreeLohans IIth-I2thcentury Chinese,Sungdynasty, andgilding Woodwithtracesofpigments H.

224

in. (6.5 cm)

Purchase,Giftsfromvariousdonors,in honor of Douglas Dillon, 1995 I995.47

rocks,as is the casewith all earlyrepresentationsof lohans,andarevariouslyengagedin studyor spiritualexercises-theirexpressions andposturesfaithfullycapturedby the sculptor.The robes,in Sungstyle,wereoncecoloredandgildedon a gessoground,withcloud patternsraisedin relief. JCYW

influenceof Ch'an(Zen) Withthewidespread Buddhismin tenth-century China,thelohan, asa monkpera Buddhistsaint,represented oneof the became exercises, formingspiritual of Buddhist chiefimagesforthe expression faith.A largenumberof lohanimageswere producedin the eleventhandtwelfthcenturiesduringthe Sungdynasty.Mostof them weresculpturesof wood or lacqueron cloth. Thesethreefiguresof monksarecarved out of a singleblockof wood.Theymusthave of lohans,as beenpartof a largerassemblage in produced groupstheywereinvariably usuallyof sixteenfigures,butsetsof fivehundredareknown.Theysit on roughlyhewn 78

Chu San-sung Chinese, act. 1i73-1619

IncenseHolder latei6th-I7thcentury Chinese, Mingdynasty, Bamboo H. (includingnew woodenends)7 in. (17.8cm)

Purchase,Friendsof AsianArt Gifts, I995 I995.271

Soga Sh6haku Japanese, 1730-178

Chinese Landscape Japanese, Edo Period (1615-i867),

ca. 1760-80

Two-foldscreen;ink and goldpaint on paper 6I 3 x 6838 in. (i6.8x

I73.7 cm)

Signed:KishinsaiSogaKiichizu; seals:(rightof signature)intaglioovalJasokken;(left ofsignature)intaglio urn-shapeShohaku overintaglio roundedsquareKiichi Purchase, Barbara and William Karatz Gift and Rogers Fund, I996 I996.I04

On this largework that once functioned as a spacedividerin a room,Shohaku,an eighteenthcenturyKyoto painterwho was one of Japan's most eccentricand individualisticartists, renderedestablishedconventions of Chinese landscapein a pointedly bizarremanner.His unorthodox treatmentof hallowed EastAsian landscapearchetypes,firstformulatedby Sung dynastypaintersin the tenth century,created an almosticonoclasticimageof man'srelationship to nature.Tiny figures,glimpsed among weirdly animatedtrees, rocks, and distant mountains, call attention to the perilous state of humanity:a lone gentlemansits unsuspectingly at the edge of a precipice,contemplatinga

distantwaterfallthat improbablysplashesup like a risingdragonto dwarfhim. A single travelercrossesa mountain ravineon a precariousbridge, on his way towarda distant temple enveloped in a light-filled mist that obscureshis path. Beyond, skeletal trees on barrenmountaintops accentuatethe forbidding nature of an incalculabledistance.A space of indeterminatevastness,suggestedby distantmountainsand clouds renderedin pale ink and dilute gold wash, silhouettesthe stronglydelineatedformstypicalof this artist. BBF

Two GreatArhats Japanese,NambokuchoPeriod,1333-92 Ink and coloron silk; mountedas hanging scrolls Each 57Y8 x 77/8 in. (I74.5x

57.2 cm)

hanging scrollsfor veneration in a Buddhist temple. These legendarydisciples of the historical Buddha were important in Buddhist ritual in China and Japan.Entrustedwith protectingthe dharma(divinelaw) at the time

Gift of Rosemarie and Leighton Longhi,

of the Buddha's death (ca. 483 B.C.), they

I995

embodied the ideal of individualeffortthrough meditationtowardthe attainmentof enlightenment. Their transcendentpowersenabledthem to remainin the world to safeguardthe dharmaand its adherentsuntil the coming of Maitreya,the future Buddha. In the Chinese imagination they were given attributesof

1995.98a,b Intently studying the sutrasor observing creaturesin the wild, these powerful figures garbedas Chinese monks are from a set of sixteen arhats(rakanin Japanese)painted on

Taoist immortalsand portrayedin popular tales and folk dramasas wonder-working intercessorsas well as models for spirituallife. Rakanworship became widespreadin Japan through Zen Buddhism. These paintings follow the type produced by late-twelfthcentury professional Buddhist painters in southern China, particularlyChin Ta-shou, who lived in Chekiang Provincein the area of Ning-p'o, the port through which emigre Chinese teachersand Japanesemonks traveled during the fourteenth century,when Zen was embracedby the militaryclass in Japan. BBF

Torsoof a Standing Bodhisattva Pakistan(NorthwestFrontierProvince[ancient Gandhararegion]),Kushandynasty, ca. late Ist-2nd century Grayschist H. 64

in. (163.8 cm)

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1995 995.419

Strategicallylocatedalong the crossroadsfrom the MediterraneanthroughancientBactriato northernIndia and China via CentralAsia, Gandharawas of tremendousmilitaryand commercialsignificance.Throughout its early history it attractedmany differentpeoplesamongthem Alexanderthe Great,the Seleucids, Scythians,Bactrians,Sogdians, Indians, Romans, and Sasanians-who all in varying degreesleft their cultural imprint on the region. Under the Kushans,a nomadic people of Scythianorigin (or who mergedwith the Scythians),Gandharaachievedits greatestglory. The most importantKushanruler, Kanishka,was one of Buddhism'sgreatest patrons,prompting Gandharaniconography to be almost completely Buddhist. The area's artisticstyle, however,reflectsthe Classical legacy of Alexander'sculturalheirs and is markedlydependent upon Hellenistic and Romanprototypes.This combinationof strong Classicalinfluencewith a virtuallyBuddhist iconographicprogramis the hallmarkof Gandharanart. The most popular Gandharanimage, after those representingthe Buddha, was that of the bodhisattva,a being who attains enlightenment and escapesthe cycle of death and rebirthbut chooses to remain on earth to help others achieve salvation. The ideal of the bodhisattva is one of the basic tenets of MahayanaBuddhism. Heroic in scale and conception, this majestictorso is stunning in its visual impact. ML

Mandala of Samvara Nepal, ca. 11oo Ink and opaquewatercoloron cloth 26,8 x o978in. (68.2 x 5o.5 cm)

Rogers Fund, I995 1995.233

Although Nepalese painted book covers and illuminated palm-leaf manuscriptpages of the eleventh and twelfth centuries survive, no paubha (painting on cloth) from Nepal other than this example is known to exist from 82

before the fourteenth century.The date of this mandalahas been confirmed by science as well as by style, and the work is, therefore, a seminal document for the study of Nepalese art. It was made as an aid to meditation in which Samvara,the most important yidam (tutelarydeity) of Esoteric Buddhism, was visualized.The basic format of the painting is one that is well known from early Tibetan and later Nepalesemandalas,but here the quadripartitepalacewith the deity at its center,in ecstaticembracewith his consort,

occurs in a particularlysimplified form. Surroundingthe central image and appropriate to it are exuberantand macabrescenes depicting devotees and deities set in the eight great Indian cemeteries.The bottom register of the painting has at its center five forms of Tara,the Buddhist savioress,flanked on the left by a practitionerand on the right by a pair of donors. The costumesand mannerin which thesefiguresareportrayedare purely Nepalese in style and are reminiscent of those SMK on contemporaneousbook covers.

meditation but suggeststhat this enlightened, gentle saint, his face radiatinga lively intelligence, is poised to deliversome great compassionate message. The Jina'swide slopingshouldersflow gently into the elegantcurvesof the canonicallycorrect long armsand largehands.The broad chest tapersto a narrowwaist and, in profile, the stomachis full. Muscles,bones, and veins arenot depicted.Instead,the expansivepressure of the sacredinnerbreath (prana)makes the skin taut and smooth. The contoursof the body areelegantand masterfullycontrolled. This is an exceedinglyrareearlyJainsculpture of exceptionalquality.

StandingJina

Attributed to Biwani Das

Prince Padam Singh ofBikaner Regaled by His Bard, Gordhar India (Rajasthan[Kishangarh]),ca. I725 onpaper Ink, silver,gold,and opaquewatercolor II8s x 14 in. (2g9.x 35.6 cm) Promised Gift of Cynthia Hazen Polsky The Museumhas recentlyacquiredby purchase and promisedgift a group of ten important drawingsand paintings from Rajasthan.Two works from the group, this superb miniature and a largecolored drawing, LadyPlayinga Tanpura,are from the hitherto-unrepresented Kishangarhschool. They exemplify the best of earlyKishangarhpainting. This picture is ascribedto Biwani Das, a Mughal-trained artistwho went from Delhi to Kishangarhin 1719 and became the highest-paidemployee of the court. His style combines a Mughal attentionto naturalisticreportageinfusedwith Rajasthanicharisma.The double portraitshows PrincePadamSingh of Bikaner(1645-I683), regardedas the bravestman of his time, being regaledby his bardwith poetic tales of his heroism, generosity,and religiousdevotion. The two sit on a white-marbleterracebesidea silverylake under a somber nighttime sky. The sparebut opulent coloringcombinedwith insightfulpsychologymakesthis a powerful and moving image. SMK

India (Karnatakaor TamilNadu), Chalukya period,9th century Copperalloy H. 13/8 in. (33.3 cm)

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, I995 1995423

This figurerepresentsone of Jainism'stwentyfourJinas("VictoriousOnes,"or conquerorsof desire).The two main sectsarethe Shvetambara ("whiteclad"),whose adherentswearwhite robes,and the Digambara,who are"skyclad," or naked,as here. The Jina is shown in a specificJain meditational pose known as kayotsarga(the position of "abandoning"the body), erect and symmetrical,with feet slightlyapartand firmly planted on the ground and body weight evenly distributedon unbent legs. The hanging arms and hands never touch the body. Animating and energizingthis sculptureis the distinctive physiognomy,suggestiveof a portrait.The singularexpressionis not that of concentrationor the withdrawn serenityof 83

A Prince Hunting Boars with His Retinue India (Rajasthan[hilai]), late I8th-earlyigth century Ink, gold, and opaquewatercoloronpaper IIr3 X 17/8 in. (28.9 x 40.3 cm)

Fletcher Fund, I996 I996. oo.4

Jhilaiwas a small but important thikana (feudatorystate) of Jaipur,as its rulerswere next in succession for the throne of Jaipurif the main line provedwithout issue. In the

late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries an importantbut little-studiedstyle of painting seems to have flourishedthere,and this work is perhapsthe finestpaintingknown from the state. Here the strongcolorsfavoredby the Jaipurschool aretemperedinto soberfieldsof black,gray,and green,and the classicalbalance typical of that school gives way to a more manneredtreatment.The Jhilai artistcreated a dynamiccompositionwith taut formsand bold surfacepatterns.Only the air of crystalline clarityreflectsits stylisticaffinityto the Jaipur school. SMK

Yamantaka,Conquerorof the Lord of Death Indonesia(Java),EasternJavaneseperiod, ith century Bronze H. 64 in (15.9 cm) Gift of The Kronos Collections, I995 1995-570.4

According to certain traditionalprogramsof Esoteric Buddhist iconography,Yamantakais the conquerorof Yama,the lord of death. As a guardianof the faith (dharmapala), Yamantaka is depicted as a fiercedeity, shown here trampling a prostratemale,perhapssignifyingdeath. The powerful,corpulenttantricdeity adopts the aggressivestanceofpratyalidha,a posture often taken by dharmapalas tramplingfoes. His lowered right hand is in the boon-granting gesture (varadamudra),and his raisedleft is in tarjanimudra,a sign of warning or menace. Yamantakais depicted with six heads, six legs, and twelve arms. Of the six faces, only one is pacific;the rest arewrathful,fanged, and ter-

rifying.All the heads wear diadems of skulls, and the deity wears a necklaceadornedwith skulls as well as a sacredthread composed of skulls alternatingwith lotuses. Yamantaka's hair is a seriesof spiralingconical forms, which heighten the sense of a great pyramidal mass being supportedby the shoulders. Yamantakafrequentscemeteries,and his necropolitanassociations-torsos,limbs,skulls, bones, and a flayed skin-are graphically depictedaroundthe baseof the sculpture.Amid this grisly reminderof mortalityone macabre smiling head appearson the side of the base. ML

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION

Publication title: THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART BULLETIN

Publicationno: 885-660 Date offiling:OctoberI, 1996 Issuefequency:Quarterly No. of issuespublishedannually:Four Annualsubscription price:$25.00, or freeto MuseumMembers Completemailingaddressof knownofficeofpublication:1oo0 FifthAvenue,New York,N.Y. I0028-OI98 orgeneralbusinessofficeofpublisher: Completemailingaddressof headquarters Ioo0 FifthAvenue,New York,N.Y. I0028-OI98 Full namesand addresses ofpublisher,editor,and managingeditor: Publisher: The MetropolitanMuseumof Art, Iooo FifthAvenue,New York,N.Y. I0028-OI98 Editor:JoanHolt, Ioo0 FifthAvenue,New York,N.Y. I0028-o098 ManagingEditor:None Owner:The MetropolitanMuseumof Art, Ioo0 FifthAvenue,New York,N.Y. I0028-o098 and othersecurityholdersowningor holdingonepercent Knownbondholders, mortgages, and othersecurities: None or moreof the localamountof bonds,mortgages,

Averagenumberof copies duringpreceding12 months (Oct. 95-Sept. 96) A. Totalcopiesprinted(net pressrun) B. Paidand/orrequestedcirculation 1. Salesthroughdealers,carriers, streetvendors,and countersales 2. Mail subscription(paidand/orrequested) C. Totalpaid and/orrequestedcirculation D. Freedistributionby mail E. Freedistributionoutsidethe mail F. TotalFreedistribution(sum of E and D) G. Totaldistribution(sum of C and F) H. Copies not distributed 1. Office use, left over,unaccounted,spoilage 2. Returnsfrom news agents I. Total (sum of G, HI and H2) J. Percentagepaid/orrequestedcirculation

118,917

Singleissuesnearest to filingdate (July96) II5,950

None

113,000

110,500 II0,500

II3,000 2,000

3,792 5,792 II8,792 I25 None 18,917 95%

1,950 3,300 5,250

II5,750 200

None II5,950 95%

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (ISSN 0026-I52I)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Iooo Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10028-0198 Return Postage Guaranteed